University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
Transcription
University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Evaluation of anaesthetic depth, inhalant anaesthetic protocols and nociceptive stimulation via electroencephalographic and heart rate variability parameters in dogs THESIS Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree – Doctor of Veterinary Medicine – Doctor medicinae veterinariae (Dr. med. vet.) by Anne Monika Kulka Bonn Hannover 2010 Academic supervision: Prof. Dr. med. vet. Sabine Kästner Klinik für Kleintiere 1. Referee: Prof. Dr. med. vet. Sabine Kästner 2. Referee: Prof. Dr. med. vet. Hansjoachim Hackbarth Day of the oral examination: 17 November 2010 The author has been supported with a scholarship by the Cusanuswerk (Bischöfliche Studienförderung). Meinen Eltern These studies have been presented in part: KULKA, A. M., C. BERGFELD, K. OTTO and S. B. R. KÄSTNER Kann das Elektroenzephalogramm (EEG) zum Anästhesiemonitoring beim Hund beitragen? Effekte dreier verschiedener Anästhesieprotokolle auf Parameter des EEG vor und nach supramaximaler Stimulation in tiefer, mittlerer und flacher Narkose 56. Jahreskongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Kleintiermedizin October 21st – October 24th 2010, Düsseldorf, Germany Proceedings Samstag, 23. Oktober 2010, 339 – 341 KULKA, A. M., C. BERGFELD, M. BEYERBACH and S. B. R. KÄSTNER Effects of three different anaesthetic protocols on heart rate variability (HRV) before and after supramaximal stimulation in deep, medium and light anaesthesia in dogs AVA Autumn Meeting September 3rd – September 4th 2010, Santorini, Greece Proceedings, 47 KULKA, A. M., C. BERGFELD, K. A. OTTO and S. B. R. KÄSTNER Effects of three different anaesthetic protocols on electroencephalographic (EEG) parameters before and after supramaximal stimulation in deep, medium and light anaesthesia in dogs AVA Spring Conference March 30th – March 31st 2010, Cambridge, UK Proceedings, unpaged Table of contents Table of contents 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 9 2 MANUSCRIPT I .................................................................................................... 19 2.1 ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... 20 2.2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 21 2.3 MATERIAL AND METHODS ................................................................................. 22 2.3.1 Animals ................................................................................................... 22 2.3.2 Experimental design .............................................................................. 23 2.3.3 Anaesthesia............................................................................................ 23 2.3.4 Instrumentation ...................................................................................... 23 2.3.5 MAC determination ................................................................................ 24 2.3.6 Electroencephalography ........................................................................ 25 2.3.7 Statistical analysis .................................................................................. 25 2.4 3 RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 26 2.4.1 MAC........................................................................................................ 26 2.4.2 Electroencephalography ........................................................................ 26 2.4.3 Anaesthetic depth levels ........................................................................ 26 2.4.4 Changes with nociceptive stimulation ................................................... 27 2.5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................... 27 2.6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... 31 2.7 REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 31 2.8 TABLES AND FIGURES ...................................................................................... 37 MANUSCRIPT II ................................................................................................... 42 3.1 ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... 43 3.2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 44 3.3 MATERIAL AND METHODS ................................................................................. 45 Table of contents 3.3.1 Animals ................................................................................................... 45 3.3.2 Experimental design .............................................................................. 45 3.3.3 Anaesthesia............................................................................................ 45 3.3.4 Instrumentation ...................................................................................... 46 3.3.5 MAC determination ................................................................................ 47 3.3.6 Blood pressure measurement................................................................ 47 3.3.7 HRV analysis .......................................................................................... 48 3.3.8 Statistical analysis .................................................................................. 48 3.4 4 RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 48 3.4.1 MAC........................................................................................................ 48 3.4.2 Electrocardiography ............................................................................... 49 3.4.3 MAP values ............................................................................................ 49 3.4.4 Anaesthetic depth levels ........................................................................ 49 3.4.5 Changes with nociceptive stimulation ................................................... 49 3.5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................... 50 3.6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... 54 3.7 REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 54 3.8 TABLES AND FIGURES ...................................................................................... 59 GENERAL DISCUSSION..................................................................................... 68 4.1 MATERIAL AND METHODS ................................................................................. 68 4.2 RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 76 4.3 CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK ........................................................................... 77 5 ZUSAMMENFASSUNG ....................................................................................... 79 6 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 81 7 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 83 8 APPENDIX............................................................................................................ 99 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. 115 List of abbreviations List of abbreviations AK Anne M. Kulka ANS autonomic nervous system AR autoregression AV atrioventricular bit binary digit BS burst suppression bzw. beziehungsweise cm centimetre CNS central nervous system CO2 carbon dioxide CRI constant rate infusion C3H2ClF5O chemical formula of isoflurane ECG electrocardiography; electrocardiogram; electrocardiograph(ic) EEG electroencephalography; electroencephalogram; electroencephalograph(ic) e.g. for example EMG electromyographic ETCO2 end-tidal carbon dioxide ETISO end-tidal isoflurane fc cutoff frequency FFT Fast Fourier Transform ga gauge h hour HF high frequency HR heart rate HRV heart rate variability Hz Hertz I group I (received isoflurane alone) ID group ID (received isoflurane and dexmedetomidine) IM intramuscular IR group IR (received isoflurane and remifentanil) IV intravenous List of abbreviations kg kilogram kΩ kiloohm L litre LAVES Landesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit LF low frequency MAC minimum alveolar concentration MAP mean arterial pressure MF median frequency min minute mL millilitre mm Hg millimetres of mercury ms millisecond NI Narcotrend® index n.u. normalised units N2 nitrogen N2O nitrous oxide p defines level of significance pH measure of the acidity of a solution RMSSD square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals RR interval interval between R peaks, e.g. derived from an ECG recording rS Spearman„s rank correlation coefficient s second SC subcutaneous SDNN standard deviation of all RR intervals SEF95 95 % spectral edge frequency SpO2 peripheral oxygen saturation V volt vol% volume per cent μg microgram °C degree Celsius % per cent Introduction 1 Introduction About one hundred and sixty years after the first widely recognised general anaesthesia in 1846 (COTTINEAU et al. 1998; BOVILL 2008), the evaluation of anaesthetic depth is still difficult. Which is the best way of determining anaesthetic depth? Even though this essential problem has long been in the focus of researchers and clinicians, there is still no ideal quantitative method of measurement. Anaesthesia Pioneers like PLOMLEY and SNOW made the first attempts to differentiate anaesthetic stages in 1847. In 1937 GUEDEL developed a today still important scheme for human subjects, which has been modified for domestic animals. It differentiates four stages of anaesthesia: 1) Analgesic stage, 2) Excitatory stage, 3) Tolerance stage and 4) Asphyctic stage. The assessment of these stages is based upon clinical signs, such as body movement, frequency of respiration, pupil size, jaw tone and reflexes (GUEDEL 1937; KATO et al. 1992). Further aspects, e.g. cardiovascular parameters, have been added. New terms were introduced for a better differentiation by WOODBRIDGE et al. (1957) since anaesthesia is built of several components: 1) Mental block (blockade of consciousness and memory), 2) Sensoric block (blockade of pain perception), 3) Motoric block (blockade of muscle tension and movements) and 4) Reflectory block (blockade of neurovegetative and cardiocirculatory reactivity). 9 Introduction The motoric block can be estimated via neuromuscular monitoring and the reflectory block via haemodynamic parameters. But there are no indicative parameters for the other two blocks. Furthermore, the evaluation of all these stages and components has become difficult with the introduction of new anaesthetics, sedatives, muscle relaxants and their combinations. They might lead to unclear transitions among the Guedel stages, elimination of clinical signs (PETERSEN-FELIX 1998; KATO et al. 1992) and an increased possibility of an inadequately light anaesthesia associated with an insufficient mental block. This could result in awareness of the patient, which leads to severe post-traumatic stress disorders (SCHMIDT et al. 2008). Additionally, analgesic deficiencies predispose for peripheral or central sensitisation (WOOLF and SALTER 2000). Thus, using only these stages and terms may be of limited value for the assessment of depth of anaesthesia, sedation and analgesia (SHORT et al. 1992). However, due to lack of better methods, clinical signs are still used and important today (HUANG et al. 2008). Electroencephalography (EEG) In the quest for finding an objective monitoring device of the brain as the target of anaesthesia and the location of amnesia and unconsciousness (ANTOGNINI et al. 2000b), the EEG has been introduced in human anaesthesia (SCHMIDT and BISCHOFF 2004). It offers an accurate evaluation of the degree of central nervous depression by measuring electrical activity of the cortical gray matter, originated in excitatory or inhibitory postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons, via surface electrodes placed upon the skull (RAMPIL 1998; SCHMIDT et al. 2008). 10 Introduction For anaesthesiology, frequency analysis is most important with a few selected spectra (SCHMIDT et al. 2008): δ waves, θ waves, α waves and β waves. High frequency β waves dominate when the eyes are open, while α waves prevail with increasing recreation and closed eyelids. With decreasing vigilance the EEG slows down and shows low frequency θ up to δ waves in humans (SCHMIDT et al. 2008). Discovered for epilepsy by BERENT et al. (1999), human and canine EEG appeared to be quite similar. Since the interpretation of the raw EEG is time-consuming and requires knowledge (TONNER and BEIN 2006), specific techniques, such as the calculation of the area under the curve or the Fast Fourier Transform, have been introduced, which offer the opportunity of presenting pre-analysed information to the observer (SCHMIDT et al. 2008). Quantitative parameters, such as spectral edge frequency, median frequency and power bands, have been examined in humans proving to be potentially useful trends but not solely reliable indicators of arousal (DRUMMOND et al. 1991). Furthermore, several devices have been designed for use in human anaesthesia such as Bispectral Index®, Narcotrend®, Alaris AEP® Monitor, SNAP® Monitor, DatexOhmeda S/5® Entropy Module and Patient State Analyzer® (SCHMIDT and BISCHOFF 2004). They calculate an index from a raw EEG based upon a secretlykept, internal algorithm that correlates with anaesthetic or sedative levels (SCHMIDT and BISCHOFF 2004). The algorithm of Narcotrend® is based upon the recognition of human sleep pattern in the EEG with stages from A to F and a corresponding index from 100 (awake) to 0 (isoelectrical EEG) representing anaesthetic depth (KREUER and WILHELM 2006; SCHMIDT et al. 2008). Several studies have been performed in human medicine with 11 Introduction various anaesthetic protocols (BAUERLE et al. 2004; KREUER et al. 2004; WEBER et al. 2005; RUNDSHAGEN et al. 2007; D‟MELLO 2008; SCHULTZ et al. 2008; STUTTMANN et al. 2010). Till today little information about the use of Narcotrend® in animals has been published. In a fentanyl etomidate anaesthetised Beagle model, Narcotrend® has proven to recognise reliably anaesthetic depth and burst suppression pattern (DER LINDE et al. 2010). In a clincial study, Narcotrend® proved to differentiate reliably between excessively deep and moderate anaesthetic depth, but not between moderate and inadequately light anaesthesia in dogs (TÜNSMEYER 2007). Heart rate variability (HRV) A completely different approach to the estimation of anaesthetic depth is the evaluation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which can be assessed via HRV analysis (MALLIANI et al. 1994; TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996). The ANS with its sympathetic and parasympathetic branches is responsible for the regulation of the function of inner organs, the immune system, inflammation, metabolism and circulation (MARCHANT-FORDE et al. 2004; MONTANO et al. 2009). Both parts are co-activated and balanced in most physiological conditions (PATON et al. 2005). The ANS is influenced by many factors of daily life, like stress, sleep, anxiety and social interactions (MONTANO et al. 2009), but also by external influences, such as general anaesthesia (LUGINBUHL et al. 2007). HRV reflects rather the regulation (AKSELROD et al. 1981; KATO et al. 1992) than the activity of the ANS. It can show (variability) changes that cannot be seen by plain electrocardiographic (ECG) inspection (KATO et al. 1992) and is thus more informative than the pure heart rate (HR), especially if the latter is within the reference range (SEELY and MACKLEM 2004; NORMAN et al. 2005; HUANG et al. 2008). The analysis of HRV is an innovative non-invasive technology, with which an evaluation of complex biological systems has become feasible. It is based upon the analysis of the intervals between R peaks. Only R peaks from sinus rhythm-derived beats are eligible. These so called RR intervals can e.g. be derived from ECG recordings (Figure 1 and Figure 2). 12 Introduction Figure 1: Electrocardiogram of a dog with a low variability of RR intervals. Figure 2: Electrocardiogram of a dog with a high variability of RR intervals. Decreased HRV is a characteristic sign of disease (GOLDBERGER et al. 1990; SEELY and MACKLEM 2004) as already the Chinese pulse expert Wang Shuhe had noticed in the 3rd century, who is believed to have said: “If the heart beats as regularly as a woodpecker or rain dropping on a roof, then the patient is to die within four days.” Hundreds of years later, HALES (1733) first documented the concept of beat-to-beat variability. SAYERS discovered in 1973 the existence of physiological rhythms in the beat-to-beat heart rate signal. A further important step was performed by AKSELROD et al. (1981) who introduced spectral analysis to evaluate HRV quantitatively. 13 Introduction Today, assessment of HRV can be performed e.g. as time and frequency domain analysis. Frequency domain parameters can be obtained via spectral analysis and are commonly used for mechanistic studies, since they allow distinguishing at least two main spectral components. High frequency (HF) oscillations occur with physiological respiratory sinus arrhythmia and are thus connected to parasympathetic activity (AKSELROD et al. 1981; PAGANI et al. 1986). It is discussed (TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996), whether low frequency (LF) is only associated with sympathetic activation (BERNASCONI et al. 1998; MOTTE et al. 2005) or has underlying sympathetic and parasympathetic influences (KAWASE et al. 2002; SEELY and MACKLEM 2004). Time domain parameters (e.g. SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals) are the simplest means of evaluation (SEELY and MACKLEM 2004) and provide an assessment of overall variability (MALLIANI et al. 1994; NORMAN et al. 2005), with SDNN being mathematically equal to the square root of the total power of spectral analysis. Research in various areas and species (Table 1) has been performed and many rewarding clinical results, e.g. for the prognosis of cardiopathies, have been obtained (LOMBARDI et al. 1996). HRV research focus species authors sudden death dogs humans SCHWARTZ et al. 1984 GALINIER et al. 2000 pain horses mice RIETMANN et al. 2004 ARRAS et al. 2007 cardiopathies dogs MINORS and O‟GRADY 1997 SPIER and MEURS 2004 MOTTE et al. 2005 stress pigs humans dogs MARCHANT-FORDE et al. 2004 RUEDIGER et al. 2004 VAISANEN et al. 2005 circadian rhythm dogs MATSUNAGA et al. 2001 species comparison humans, dogs, rabbits, calves MANZO et al. 2009 Table 1: Research areas of HRV in different species. Table 1: Research areas of HRV analysis in different species. HRV = heart rate variability. 14 Introduction However, only a couple of studies dealing with HRV and anaesthesia mainly in humans have been published (KATO et al. 1992; HUANG et al. 1997; LUGINBUHL et al. 2007). HRV power spectra were e.g. markedly decreased in all frequency components in humans and HRV changed significantly from an awake to an unconscious state (KATO et al. 1992). Since HRV can provide information on the status of the ANS and the central nervous system (CNS) (KATO et al. 1992), it might be a potentially good indicator of anaesthetic depth (HUANG et al. 2008) and maybe as well of nociceptive stimulation. There are also some studies questioning the value of HRV. BOOTSMA et al. (2003) demonstrated in a study with healthy human subjects that HR and HRV appear not to evaluate sympathetic or vagal tone and the sympathovagal balance. The assessment of sympathetic tone was especially weak. ECKBERG (1997) reviewed critically the mathematical calculations and articles about sympathovagal balance concluding that they might rather obscure than show physiological and pathological changes. Additionally, several factors which influence HRV have been identified, such as stress (MOHR et al. 2002), circadian rhythm (MATSUNAGA et al. 2001), exercise (MALLIANI et al. 1994), diseases (MASAOKA et al. 1985) and drugs (JAMES et al. 1992; MATSUNAGA et al. 2001). Their overlap and fluctuations are problematic for quantitative measures (BOOTSMA et al. 2003). These variables have to be known, limited and calculable to get reasonable and comparable HRV analysis results. Inhalant anaesthetic and adjuvant drugs Several groups of drugs can be used for anaesthesia. The following ones, which are representative of their groups, were selected for the present studies. The chlorinated and fluorinated methyl ether isoflurane (C3H2ClF5O) (EGER 1981; LOSCAR and CONZEN 2004), a volatile anaesthetic, has first been synthesized in 1965 (VITCHA 1971; EGER 1981). Due to its low blood/gas partition coefficient (1.3 in dogs) the alveolar isoflurane concentration rises quickly towards the inspired concentration (ZBINDEN et al. 1988) leading to a rapid induction and a fast recovery. It is primarily eliminated via the lungs with a metabolism rate of only 0.2 % in humans 15 Introduction thus having a very low nephro- and hepatotoxicity (CARPENTER et al. 1986). Isoflurane has analgesic and muscle-relaxing properties as well as tolerable cardiovascular side effects (LOSCAR and CONZEN 2004) and affordable costs. It is very potent with a minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) between 1.18 ± 0.15 (CREDIE et al. 2010) and 1.80 ± 0.21 vol% isoflurane (HELLYER et al. 2001) in dogs. Isoflurane has become the most commonly used volatile anaesthetic in veterinary medicine and was therefore chosen for this study. Dexmedetomidine is the most potent and most selective commercially available α2receptor agonist (KUUSELA et al. 2000). The favourable effects of α2-agonists include sedation, analgesia, anxiolysis and possible reversal with specific α2antagonists (KUUSELA et al. 2000; MURRELL and HELLEBREKERS 2005). Dexmedetomidine is a suitable agent for use in sedation and balanced anaesthesia. It is the dextro-rotary, active enantiomer of the racemic mixture medetomidine and has predictable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics (KUUSELA et al. 2000). In dogs, pharmacokinetic studies with medetomidine and dexmedetomidine have shown a rapid absorption with a bioavailability > 60 %, a protein binding capacity > 90 %, a rapid distribution into tissues and a peak level in serum after up to 30 min following IM administration of a bolus of 80 μg kg-1 medetomidine (SALONEN 1989). After the application of a single dose of dexmedetomidine (20 μg kg-1, IV) in conscious dogs, a clearance of 20.7 ± 8 mL kg-1 min-1 combined with an elimination half-life of less than 1 h has been reported (KUUSELA et al. 2000). An even shorter elimination half-life of 0.46 ± 0.12 h, probably due to a better liver blood flow, and no accumulative effects have been published after the administration of a 24 h constant rate infusion (CRI) of dexmedetomidine (1 μg kg-1 h-1) in isoflurane-anaesthetised Beagles (LIN et al. 2008). In another pharmacokinetic study with isoflurane-anaesthetised Beagles, dexmedetomidine serum concentration maintained at a steady state (~ 2 ng mL-1) during a CRI of 3 μg kg-1 h-1 dexmedetomidine over 7 hours (PASCOE et al. 2006). Like medetomidine, dexmedetomidine is biotransformed mainly via hydroxylation in the liver (SALONEN 1989). The main excretion pathway is via urine, but some metabolites can also be found in the faeces as discovered for medetomidine in dogs 16 Introduction (SALONEN 1989). However, the cardiovascular side effects, such as a biphasic arterial pressure response, sustained bradycardia, a reduced cardiac output, sinus arrhythmias, atrioventricular (AV) blocks 1st and 2nd degree, an increase in systemic vascular resistance and peripheral vasoconstriction as well as the blockade of the sympathetic branch of the ANS have to be considered (BOL et al. 1999; KUUSELA et al. 2000). In combination with isoflurane, the peripheral vasoconstriction by dexmedetomidine beneficially counteracts the peripheral vasodilation induced by isoflurane (KUUSELA et al. 2003; UILENREEF et al. 2008). Additionally, it can reduce the MAC of isoflurane (PASCOE et al. 2006; CAMPAGNOL et al. 2007). Remifentanil, an ultra-short potent opioid (HOFFMAN et al. 1993), acts at µ1-opiate receptors (LANG et al. 1996) and has good analgesic properties (ALLWEILER et al. 2007). It is known for its rapid on- and offset characteristics due to its special pharmacokinetic profile, which is different compared to those of other opioids. It has a high lipid solubility with an octanol/water partition ratio of 19.9 (at pH 7.4) (MILLER et al. 2004) and a clearance of 63.1 ± 18.1 mL kg-1 min-1 in isoflurane-anaesthetised dogs (HOKE et al. 1997). The context-sensitive half-time of remifentanil is approximately 3 min and is independent of the dose and the duration of an infusion (EGAN 1995; CHISM and RICKERT 1996; KAPILA et al. 1996). It does not accumulate even after long-term administration, since it contains a methyl ester structure, which renders it susceptible to enzymatic hydrolysis by non-specific esterases in blood and tissue (MICHELSEN et al. 1996; HOKE et al. 1997). Thus, in contrast to other opioids, the termination of its therapeutic effects depends upon metabolic clearance and not upon redistribution (EGAN 1995). Remifentanil is also known for a central vagotonic effect and an opioid-characteristic EEG slowing (HOFFMAN et al. 1993). Like other opioids, it can reduce the MAC of isoflurane in dogs (ALLWEILER et al. 2007; MONTEIRO et al. 2009). 17 Introduction Aims of these studies The aims of the present studies were defined as: Evaluation of quantitative EEG and HRV parameters under standardised conditions for different inhalant anaesthetic protocols in dogs. Evaluation of these parameters for different anaesthetic depth levels. Evaluation of these parameters before and after supramaximal stimulation. Identification of the best length of HRV analysis intervals in anaesthesia, prior to the main study. 18 Manuscript I 2 Manuscript I Effects of isoflurane, dexmedetomidine and remifentanil on quantitative electroencephalographic parameters derived from Narcotrend® at different anaesthetic levels before and after nociceptive stimulation in dogs A. M. Kulka, K. A. Otto*, C. Bergfeld, M. Beyerbach°, S. B. R. Kästner Small Animal Clinic, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bünteweg 9, D–30559 Hannover, Germany; *Laboratory Animal Facility, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, D–30625 Hannover, Germany; °Institute for Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bünteweg 2, D–30559 Hannover, Germany 19 Manuscript I 2.1 Abstract Objective: Evaluation of the influence of three different anaesthetic protocols and depth levels before and after supramaximal stimulation upon quantitative electroencephalographic (EEG) variables derived from Narcotrend® under standardised conditions in dogs. Animals: Six healthy Beagle dogs (16.3 ± 1.0 kg, 4.0 ± 2.7 years, 4 females and 2 castrated males). Study design: Experimental, crossover design with at least one week washout intervals. Methods: All dogs were anaesthetised according to three protocols with isoflurane alone (I), with isoflurane and a constant rate infusion (CRI) of dexmedetomidine (3 μg kg-1 h-1) (ID) and with isoflurane and a remifentanil CRI (18 μg kg-1 h-1) (IR). Eucapnia (35 – 45 mm Hg) and constant oesophageal temperature (37.6 ± 0.5 °C) were maintained. Individual minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane was determined via supramaximal electrical stimulation (50 V, 50 Hz, 10 ms) for each anaesthetic protocol. Three EEG electrodes were placed subcutaneously. Quantitative variables, such as power bands (δ, θ, α, β), their ratios (θ/δ, α/δ, β/δ), median frequency (MF), 95 % spectral edge frequency (SEF95) and Narcotrend ® index (NI), were recorded directly both before and after supramaximal stimulation at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC for each protocol and analysed offline (20 s epochs). Results: Isoflurane MAC values for groups I, ID and IR were 1.7 ± 0.3, 1.0 ± 0.1 and 1.0 ± 0.1 vol% isoflurane, respectively. Baseline SEF95 decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with deepening of anaesthesia in groups I and ID, but only slightly in group IR. In group I δ decreased and β, MF, SEF95, α/δ and β/δ increased significantly with stimulation at 0.75 MAC while at 1.0 MAC only β/δ increased significantly. In group ID δ decreased and MF and β/δ increased significantly with stimulation at all depth levels, θ changed only at 0.75 and 1.5 MAC, θ/δ and α/δ increased at 1.0 and 1.5 MAC and β and SEF95 increased significantly at 0.75 and 1.0 MAC. In group IR θ 20 Manuscript I and α decreased significantly with stimulation at 0.75 MAC and SEF95 increased significantly at 1.0 MAC. The NI had the best correlation with anaesthetic depth in group I, followed by group ID and group IR. Conclusions: At the same anaesthetic depth, as defined by individual MAC, remifentanil depressed EEG response to nociceptive stimulation more than dexmedetomidine. Isoflurane alone resulted in the greatest overall EEG depression. No sole indicator for anaesthetic levels could be identified for dogs. The EEG alone does not provide a sufficient monitoring in dogs, but may be used as an additional device. Keywords: dog; isoflurane; electroencephalography; anaesthetic depth; Narcotrend®. 2.2 Introduction Electroencephalography offers the opportunity to measure electrical activity of the cortical gray matter originating from excitatory or inhibitory postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons via surface electrodes placed at the skull (RAMPIL 1998; SCHMIDT et al. 2008). The interpretation of the unprocessed EEG in a clinical setting is difficult, as the evaluation requires time and knowledge (TONNER and BEIN 2006). Thus, quantitative parameters, such as spectral edge frequency, median frequency and power bands, have been examined in humans proving to be potentially useful trends but not solely reliable indicators of arousal (DRUMMOND et al. 1991). Furthermore, several specific anaesthesia monitors with inherent algorithms e.g. Bispectral Index®, Narcotrend®, Alaris AEP® Monitor, SNAP® Monitor, Datex-Ohmeda S/5® Entropy Module or Patient State Analyzer® have been developed (SCHMIDT et al. 2008) offering easily readable parameters for anaesthetic monitoring. The algorithm of Narcotrend® is based upon recognition of visually assessed human sleep EEG pattern (KREUER and WILHELM 2006). It differentiates six EEG stages from A (awake) to F (increasing burst suppression (BS) pattern to isoelectricity) with 15 substages and a corresponding index ranging from 21 Manuscript I 100 to 0, respectively (KREUER and WILHELM 2006). So far, there has been little information on the value of EEG parameters provided by Narcotrend® in animals. In a clinical setting with dogs, Narcotrend® proved to differentiate reliably between excessively deep and moderate anaesthetic depth, but not between moderate and inadequately light anaesthesia (TÜNSMEYER 2007). All EEG patterns and parameters are affected by anaesthetic depth, anaesthetic agent, adjuvant drugs and also by physiological alterations such as hypothermia and hypoperfusion (LEVY 1984). Assessment of these influences has gained substantial importance as the brain, being the location of amnesia and unconsciousness (ANTOGNINI et al. 2000b), is the target of anaesthesia. The aim of the present study was to compare brain wave activity in dogs in response to various defined levels of anaesthetic depth and supramaximal stimulation during anaesthesia using three different anaesthetic protocols. Brain wave activity was assessed by means of quantitative EEG parameters derived from the Narcotrend® monitor. 2.3 Material and Methods The study was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the local district government (LAVES) of Lower Saxony, Germany (approval number 33.9-42502-0409/1711). 2.3.1 Animals For this study six adult Beagle dogs (4 females, 2 castrated males) with a mean body weight of 16.3 ± 1.0 kg and a mean age of 4.0 ± 2.7 years were selected. They were housed in separate kennels and were fed commercial dry adult maintenance dog fooda. The dogs were considered healthy based on physical examination, haematology and blood chemistry. They were vaccinated and dewormed on a regular basis. Food but not water was withheld for 6 to 8 hours prior to anaesthesia. 22 Manuscript I 2.3.2 Experimental design With at least one week washout intervals between the experiments, each dog underwent three different anaesthetic protocols. After an instrumentation period, 1.0 MAC was individually determined via supramaximal stimulation in all anaesthesias. The same stimulation protocol was also applied at the consecutive anaesthetic levels of 0.75 and 1.5 MAC. 2.3.3 Anaesthesia In all groups, anaesthesia was induced with 5 vol% isofluraneb in oxygen (5 L min-1) via a face mask until endotracheal intubation was possible. Group I received only isoflurane. Group ID was given a loading dose of 3 μg kg-1 dexmedetomidinec delivered via a syringe pumpd over 10 min followed by the isoflurane induction and maintenance which was combined with a CRI of dexmedetomidine (3 μg kg -1 h-1) (PASCOE et al. 2006). In group IR, a remifentanile CRI (18 μg kg-1 h-1) (MONTEIRO et al. 2009) was started without a loading dose and was followed by the isoflurane induction and anaesthesia. Both drugs used for CRI were diluted in 0.9 % sodium chloridef. 2.3.4 Instrumentation An instrumentation and stabilisation period of at least one hour was allowed. During that period the dogs were maintained at the expected end-tidal isoflurane (ETISO) concentration of 1.0 MAC. The endotracheal tube was connected to a circle breathing systemg operated in a semi-closed mode with an oxygen flow rate of 1 L min-1. Placed in right lateral recumbency, the dogs were mechanically ventilated h with settings adjusted to maintain eucapnia (35 – 45 mm Hg). Body temperature was kept constant (37.6 ± 0.5 °C) by a warm air blanketi. An indwelling intravenous catheterj was placed in a cephalic vein and balanced electrolyte solutionk was infused at 5 mL kg-1 h-1 using a volumetric pumpl. The eyes were lubricatedm repeatedly during the experiment. Invasive arterial blood pressure (MAP = mean arterial pressure) was measured via an arterial cathetern placed in a dorsal pedal artery connected to a 23 Manuscript I precalibrated pressure transducero via noncompliant pressure lines. The level of the sternal manubrium was used as zero reference point. Arterial blood samples for blood gas analysis were collected periodically into heparinised syringes, corrected to oesophageal temperature and analysedp immediately to verify eucapnia and adjust ventilator settings. Gas samples for the analysis of ETISO and end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) were collected from the tracheal end of the endotracheal tube. Samples were constantly analysed via infrared technique of a multiparameter anaesthesia monitorq, which was calibrated with a reference gas mixturer, containing 5.00 % CO2, 33.0 % N2O, 2 % desflurane and N2 as balance gas, before each experiment. Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) was monitored by pulse oximetry of the same anaesthesia monitor. Heart rate (HR) was recorded via an electrocardiograms. For a bifrontal one-channel montage EEG recordingt, three needle electrodes were placed subcutaneously. The two measuring electrodes were placed midline between the temporal corners of the eyes and the ears and the reference electrode was placed on the bridge of the nose (TÜNSMEYER 2007). The impedance of the electrodes was checked automatically and did not exceed 6 kΩ. For nociceptive stimulation, two stimulation electrodesu were placed subcutaneously on the middle third of the medial side of the ulna of the right thoracic limb approximately 4 – 5 cm apart. They were connected to a square pulse stimulatorv, which was set at 50 V, 50 Hz and 10 ms. After completion of the experiments all catheters were removed. The dogs were recovered and received a single bolus injection of carprofenw 4 mg kg-1, SC. 2.3.5 MAC determination Standardised anaesthetic levels were obtained by individual MAC determinations for each protocol, always observed by the same investigator (AK). The supramaximal electrical stimulation protocol consisted of 2 single stimuli and 2 continuous stimuli (applied over 3 s) with pauses of 5 s duration between each stimulus (VALVERDE et al. 2003). A positive reaction was defined as gross purposeful movement of the head, the legs or the tail. Negative reactions were breathing, swallowing or chewing. For 24 Manuscript I each level of ETISO a 15 min equilibration period was allowed (QUASHA et al. 1980; CAMPAGNOL et al. 2007). In order to determine the individual MAC, the bracketing study design (SONNER 2002) was applied. The isoflurane concentration was raised or lowered initially in steps of 0.2 vol% of ETISO depending on a positive or negative reaction to stimulation. For the final MAC determination, ETISO was changed by steps of 0.1 vol% isoflurane. The MAC was calculated as the arithmetic mean of the ET ISO concentrations that just permitted and just prevented movement after supramaximal stimulation. In addition to 1.0 MAC, the anaesthetic levels of 0.75 and 1.5 MAC were realised and the same protocol as for MAC determination was used for nociceptive stimulation at these depths. 2.3.6 Electroencephalography The EEG signal was sampled at 128 samples per second with a 12-bit resolution. Filter setting of the amplifier was set at 0.5 – 45 Hz combined with a supplemental 50 Hz notch filter. Fast Fourier Transform of 2 s segments was done automatically and parameters were provided presenting means of 10 consecutive 2 s segments (20 s epochs) (KREUER and WILHELM 2006). Frequency bands were defined as δ = 0.5 – 3.5 Hz, θ = 3.5 – 7.5 Hz, α = 7.5 – 12.5 Hz and β > 12.5 Hz. Recorded data were classified as being derived from an adult human (35 years). Prior to the analysis of data, the raw EEG was visually evaluated for artefacts. Periods with electromyographic (EMG) activity and BS pattern were included. NI, power bands (δ, θ, α, β), their ratios (θ/δ, α/δ, β/δ), 95 % spectral edge frequency (SEF95) and median frequency (MF) (TONNER and BEIN 2006; OTTO 2007) were analysed offlinex. Baseline values for each protocol and each anaesthetic depth were derived from up to one minute before start of the stimulation. Post stimulation values were recorded directly after the end of the stimulation. 2.3.7 Statistical analysis Statistical analysis was performed with SASy. If not indicated otherwise, data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Signed-rank tests were used to compare 25 Manuscript I quantitative EEG data before and after nociceptive stimulation and among different anaesthetic depths. Spearman‟s rank correlations and linear regressions were used for the evaluation of the NI and anaesthetic depth. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. 2.4 Results Blood gas analysis parameters and SpO2 remained within clinically accepted ranges. A separate study presents specific changes of HR and MAP. 2.4.1 MAC Mean 1.0 MAC isoflurane values for group I were 1.7 ± 0.3 vol% isoflurane. For group ID they were 1.0 ± 0.1 and for group IR 1.0 ± 0.1 vol% isoflurane. 2.4.2 Electroencephalography Only in group I, BS pattern, lasting up to 10 s, were present in the baseline readings in 2 out of 6 (1.5 MAC), 1 out of 6 (1.0 MAC) and none (0.75 MAC) of 6 dogs as well as in one reading after stimulation at 1.5 MAC. EMG activity was present in 25 %, 50 % and 3 % of all readings in groups I, ID and IR, respectively. Their appearance prevailed in lighter anaesthetic levels and increased with stimulation. 2.4.3 Anaesthetic depth levels Baseline SEF95 decreased significantly with anaesthetic depth in groups I and ID, but not in group IR (Figure 1). The NI decreased the most with deepening of anaesthesia in group I with a correlation coefficient (rS) of -0.89 (p < 0.0001). In group ID rS corresponded to -0.71 (p = 0.0009) and in group IR to -0.15 (p = 0.5900) (Figure 2). No index was provided in 2 cases of group I as well as in 3 cases of group IR. Significant changes among MAC levels could also be seen in the other parameters (Table 1 – Table 3). 26 Manuscript I 2.4.4 Changes with nociceptive stimulation Nociceptive stimulation resulted in significant increases of β, β/δ, MF and SEF95 as well as in a significant decrease of δ at 0.75 MAC in group I (Table 1) and at 0.75 and 1.0 MAC in group ID. At 1.5 MAC δ decreased significantly, combined with significant increases of θ, α, θ/δ, α/δ, β/δ and MF in group ID (Table 2). In group IR only single parameters changed significantly in response to stimulation at 0.75 and 1.0 MAC (Table 3). 2.5 Discussion Drug influences Cerebrocortical activity varied among the three protocols at the same MAC levels. The strongest depression of brain activity with deepening of anaesthesia could be seen in group I. Investigations in human patients anaesthetised with isoflurane revealed a concentration-dependent transient EEG activation (desynchronisation) followed by EEG slowing, BS pattern and finally isoelectricity (LOSCAR and CONZEN 2004). Thus, isoflurane exerts a strong dose-dependent hypnotic effect, which could be verified in the current study. Only in group I, BS patterns were found mostly at 1.5 MAC, which is similar to observations in humans (EGER 1981). Significant changes of β, δ, MF and SEF95 after stimulation, observed e.g. in group I at 0.75 MAC, resembled “classical” EEG arousal reactions defined as desynchronisation, a shift from lower to higher frequency ranges and a decrease of amplitude (BIMAR and BELLVILLE 1977; OTTO 2007). In agreement with an isoflurane study in goats by ANTOGNINI and CARSTENS (1999), no clearly identifiable arousal could be seen at 1.5 MAC. Isoflurane acts upon the brain by e.g. blunting centripetal transmission of ascending neural information to the cortex in the thalamus (ANGEL 1993), but also by depressing the spinal cord (ANTOGNINI et al. 2000a). Therefore, isoflurane at higher MAC levels might be effective enough to suppress transmission of nociceptive stimuli to the brain resulting in almost no cortical reaction. 27 Manuscript I Dexmedetomidine resulted in deeper anaesthetic levels in a lower β and higher δ baseline brain activity compared to isoflurane alone. It acts at α2-adrenergic receptors that are located in the brain, e.g. in the locus coeruleus (CORREA-SALES et al. 1992), and in the spinal cord (GUO et al. 1996). The locus coeruleus, the largest noradrenergic cell group in the brain, has been associated with arousal and vigilance (BOL et al. 1999) and has been suggested to be the major site for sedative action of dexmedetomidine (CORREA-SALES et al. 1992). Most likely, the synergistic effect of both drugs resulted in this strong hypnotic effect (HENDRICKX et al. 2008). However, the reactions to stimulation were strongest in group ID at all MAC levels compared to the other groups. Dexmedetomidine is known to cause sleep-like pattern (MASON et al. 2009). It induced endogenous sleep pathways resulting in an arousable sedation in rats (NELSON et al. 2003). With a dexmedetomidineremifentanil sedation, humans showed a preserved cortical responsiveness to external acoustic stimuli compared to a group receiving midazolam-remifentanil (HAENGGI et al. 2006). These studies results revealed specific cortical characteristics of dexmedetomidine, which could also be seen in the present results. Remifentanil on the other hand blunted almost all brain activation after stimulation. It acts at μ1-receptors, which are distributed at many locations of the CNS, such as the cerebral cortex and the spinal dorsal horn, and can effectively block sympathetic responses to noxious stimulation (MICHELSEN et al. 1996). Its analgesic properties appeared even at lighter anaesthetic levels strong enough to prevent brain activation. Remifentanil also resulted in the least EEG changes with deepening of anaesthesia. Opioids are known for a dose-dependent EEG suppression (HOFFMAN et al. 1993), but do not tend towards maximal cortical suppression even in higher doses than used in the present study (HANEL and WERNER 1997). This might be the reason for the weak correlation between NI and MAC in group IR. Only slight differences in parameters between awareness and unconsciousness using remifentanil combined with an inhalant anaesthetic have also been observed in humans (SCHNEIDER et al. 2004). These findings could also explain the observed higher overall brain activity in group IR compared to isoflurane alone. 28 Manuscript I MAC The determination of MAC has become an established method for the evaluation of anaesthetic potency (EGER et al. 1965). In the present study 1.0 MAC of isoflurane corresponded to 1.7 ± 0.3 vol% isoflurane, which is within the upper range of values reported in the literature for different breeds of dogs (1.18 ± 0.15 (CREDIE et al. 2010) to 1.80 ± 0.21 vol% isoflurane (HELLYER et al. 2001)). In addition to breeddependent differences, many other aspects influence the results, e.g. individual sensitivities to inhalant anaesthetic agents (SONNER 2002), the observer, the underlying criteria for positive and negative reactions as well as the stimulation technique. The technical influences of traditional clamping versus electrical stimulation were shown not to be significantly different, but a tendency towards higher MAC values with the electrical stimulation was noticed (VALVERDE et al. 2003), which might also explain the rather high values of the present study. The MAC method has been used in this study for reaching quantitatively comparable anaesthetic levels. However, MAC may not be an ideal method for the determination of anaesthetic depth, as it has been suggested that the underlying criterion of the suppression of immobility was mainly a spinal effect and thus does not reflect brain activity (RAMPIL et al. 1993). Remifentanil and dexmedetomidine both reduced the MAC of isoflurane by 41 %. Opioids and α2-agonists are known for their MAC-sparing effects in dogs and also in other species, such as in humans or in rats, because of their analgesic and sedative effects. Remifentanil exerts a strong analgesic effect via μ1-receptors (LANG et al. 1996), while dexmedetomidine reduces the MAC probably by strongly suppressing α2-receptors at the spinal level (SAVOLA et al. 1991). Isoflurane MAC reductions in dogs by 59 ± 10 % for remifentanil (MONTEIRO et al. 2009) and by 59 ± 7 % for dexmedetomidine (PASCOE et al. 2006) administered in the same dosages like in this study have been reported. Even with a remifentanil infusion of 15 μg kg -1 h-1 an isoflurane reduction by 51 % has been observed in a clinical study in dogs (ALLWEILER et al. 2007). Reasons for the present lower reductions might be individual differences, the experimental set-up or other influences. 29 Manuscript I Limitations The present study was in so far limited, as the low number of six dogs was not sufficient in order to truly evaluate the overall reliability of the presented parameters. Influences upon the EEG parameters through EMG activity were not expected, since PANOUSIS et al. (2007) reported that Narcotrend® values were not affected by increased EMG activity. Pattern of BS on the other hand do influence parameters, as used in this study, since EEG values fail to classify periods with BS pattern as deeper levels of anaesthesia (BRUHN et al. 2000). A BS ratio could be calculated (RAMPIL et al. 1988) to quantify the influence. Since the algorithm of Narcotrend® includes an internal “suppression detection” (KREUER and WILHELM 2006), which cannot be approached by the user, an unknown possible interference has to be kept in mind. An influence on EEG recordings through accumulation of drugs should not be expected. Isoflurane is primarily eliminated via the lungs with a metabolism rate of only 0.2 % in humans (CARPENTER et al. 1986). Remifentanil is rapidly metabolised by non-specific esterases in blood and tissue (MICHELSEN et al. 1996; HOKE et al. 1997) with a context-sensitive half-time of 3 min which is independent of the duration of an infusion (EGAN 1995; KAPILA et al. 1995). In a pharmacokinetic study in isoflurane-anaesthetised Beagles, no accumulative effects and a steady state serum dexmedetomidine concentration (~ 2 ng mL-1) of a CRI of dexmedetomidine administered for 7 hours in the same dosage as in this study have been observed (PASCOE et al. 2006). Conclusions Isoflurane alone resulted in the greatest overall EEG depression with the best NI correlation. At the same anaesthetic depths as defined by individual MAC, remifentanil depressed EEG response to nociceptive stimulation the most, while the strongest arousal reactions were seen with dexmedetomidine. No sole indicator for anaesthetic depth could be identified for dogs. The EEG alone does not provide a sufficient monitoring in anaesthetised dogs, but may be used as an additional device. 30 Manuscript I a GranCarno® Adult, animonda petfood gmbh, Germany. Forane®/Forene®, Abbott AG, Switzerland. c Dexdomitor®, Orion Corporation, Finland. d Perfusor® fm, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. e Ultiva®, GlaxoSmithKline, Australia. f NaCl 0.9 % B. Braun, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. g Dräger Trajan 808, Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Germany. h Alphavent, Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Germany. i Bair Hugger®, Carbamed, Switzerland. j Vasofix® Braunüle®, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. k Sterofundin®, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. l Infusomat® fmS, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. m Bepanthen® Augen- und Nasensalbe, Bayer Vital GmbH, Germany. n BD Careflow™, Becton Dickinson, USA. o PMSET ART. SafedrawTM (Basic – Flexi), Becton Dickinson, USA. p Rapidlab 248, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics GmbH, Germany. q Datex Ohmeda Compact Monitor, GE Healthcare, USA. r QUICK CALTM Calibration gas, GE Healthcare, USA. s Televet® 100, Rösch & Associates Information Engineering GmbH, Germany. t Narcotrend®-Compact version 5.0, MT MonitorTechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Germany. u Disposable EasyGrip Monopolar Needle Electrode 50 mm x 26 ga, Viasys Healthcare, USA. v Grass S48 Square Pulse Stimulator, Astro-Med, USA. w Rimadyl®, Pfizer GmbH, Germany. x NarcoWin version 1.0, MT MonitorTechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Germany. y SAS version 9.1.3 Service Pack 1, SAS Institute Inc., USA. b 2.6 Acknowledgements Special thanks to the AG Narcotrend® for valuable technical help and to the Cusanuswerk for supporting the first author with a scholarship. 2.7 References ALLWEILER, S., D. C. BRODBELT, K. BORER, R. A. HAMMOND and H. I. ALIBHAI (2007): The isoflurane-sparing and clinical effects of a constant rate infusion of remifentanil in dogs. Vet Anaesth Analg 34, 388 – 393 ANGEL, A. (1993): Central neuronal pathways and the process of anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth 71, 148 – 163 31 Manuscript I ANTOGNINI, J. F. and E. CARSTENS (1999): Isoflurane blunts electroencephalographic and thalamic-reticular formation responses to noxious stimulation in goats. Anesthesiology 91, 1770 – 1779 ANTOGNINI, J. F., E. CARSTENS, M. SUDO and S. SUDO (2000a): Isoflurane depresses electroencephalographic and medial thalamic responses to noxious stimulation via an indirect spinal action. Anesth Analg 91, 1282 – 1288 ANTOGNINI, J. F., X. W. WANG and E. CARSTENS (2000b): Isoflurane action in the spinal cord blunts electroencephalographic and thalamicreticular formation responses to noxious stimulation in goats. Anesthesiology 92, 559 – 566 BIMAR, J. and J. W. BELLVILLE (1977): Arousal reactions during anesthesia in man. Anesthesiology 47, 449 – 454 BOL, C. J., J. P. VOGELAAR and J. W. MANDEMA (1999): Anesthetic profile of dexmedetomidine identified by stimulus-response and continuous measurements in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 291, 153 – 160 BRUHN, J., H. ROPCKE, B. REHBERG, T. BOUILLON and A. HOEFT (2000): Electroencephalogram approximate entropy correctly classifies the occurrence of burst suppression pattern as increasing anesthetic drug effect. Anesthesiology 93, 981 – 985 CAMPAGNOL, D., F. J. TEIXEIRA NETO, T. GIORDANO, T. H. FERREIRA and E. R. MONTEIRO (2007): Effects of epidural administration of dexmedetomidine on the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in dogs. Am J Vet Res 68, 1308 – 1318 CARPENTER, R. L., E. I. EGER, 2ND, B. H. JOHNSON, J. D. UNADKAT and L. B. SHEINER (1986): The extent of metabolism of inhaled anesthetics in humans. Anesthesiology 65, 201 – 205 CORREA-SALES, C., B. C. RABIN and M. MAZE (1992): A hypnotic response to dexmedetomidine, an alpha 2 agonist, is mediated in the locus coeruleus in rats. Anesthesiology 76, 948 – 952 32 Manuscript I CREDIE, R. G., F. J. TEIXEIRA NETO, T. H. FERREIRA, A. J. AGUIAR, F. C. RESTITUTTI and J. E. CORRENTE (2010): Effects of methadone on the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in dogs. Vet Anaesth Analg 37, 240 – 249 DRUMMOND, J. C., C. A. BRANN, D. E. PERKINS and D. E. WOLFE (1991): A comparison of median frequency, spectral edge frequency, a frequency band power ratio, total power, and dominance shift in the determination of depth of anesthesia. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand 35, 693 – 699 EGAN, T. D. (1995): Remifentanil pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. A preliminary appraisal. Clin Pharmacokinet 29, 80 – 94 EGER, E. I., 2ND (1981): Isoflurane: a review. Anesthesiology 55, 559 – 576 EGER, E. I., 2ND, L. J. SAIDMAN and B. BRANDSTATER (1965): Minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration: a standard of anesthetic potency. Anesthesiology 26, 756 – 763 GUO, T. Z., L. POREE, W. GOLDEN, J. STEIN, M. FUJINAGA and M. MAZE (1996): Antinociceptive response to nitrous oxide is mediated by supraspinal opiate and spinal alpha 2 adrenergic receptors in the rat. Anesthesiology 85, 846 – 852 HAENGGI, M., H. YPPARILA, K. HAUSER, C. CAVIEZEL, I. KORHONEN, J. TAKALA and S. M. JAKOB (2006): The effects of dexmedetomidine/remifentanil and midazolam/remifentanil on auditoryevoked potentials and electroencephalogram at light-to-moderate sedation levels in healthy subjects. Anesth Analg 103, 1163 – 1169 HANEL, F. and C. WERNER (1997): Remifentanil. Anaesthesist 46, 897 – 908 HELLYER, P. W., K. R. MAMA, H. L. SHAFFORD, A. E. WAGNER and C. KOLLIASBAKER (2001): Effects of diazepam and flumazenil on minimum alveolar concentrations for dogs anesthetized with isoflurane or a combination of isoflurane and fentanyl. Am J Vet Res 62, 555 – 560 33 Manuscript I HENDRICKX, J. F., E. I. EGER, 2ND, J. M. SONNER and S. L. SHAFER (2008): Is synergy the rule? A review of anesthetic interactions producing hypnosis and immobility. Anesth Analg 107, 494 – 506 HOFFMAN, W. E., F. CUNNINGHAM, M. K. JAMES, V. L. BAUGHMAN and R. F. ALBRECHT (1993): Effects of remifentanil, a new short-acting opioid, on cerebral blood flow, brain electrical activity, and intracranial pressure in dogs anesthetized with isoflurane and nitrous oxide. Anesthesiology 79, 107 – 113 HOKE, J. F., F. CUNNINGHAM, M. K. JAMES, K. T. MUIR and W. E. HOFFMAN (1997): Comparative pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of remifentanil, its principle metabolite (GR90291) and alfentanil in dogs. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 281, 226 – 232 KAPILA, A., P. S. GLASS, J. R. JACOBS, K. T. MUIR, D. J. HERMANN, M. SHIRAISHI, S. HOWELL and R. L. SMITH (1995): Measured context-sensitive half-times of remifentanil and alfentanil. Anesthesiology 83, 968 – 975 KREUER, S. and W. WILHELM (2006): The Narcotrend monitor. Best Pract Res 20, 111 – 119 LANG, E., A. KAPILA, D. SHLUGMAN, J. F. HOKE, P. S. SEBEL and P. S. GLASS (1996): Reduction of isoflurane minimal alveolar concentration by remifentanil. Anesthesiology 85, 721 – 728 LEVY, W. J. (1984): Quantitative analysis of EEG changes during hypothermia. Anesthesiology 60, 291 – 297 LOSCAR, M. and P. CONZEN (2004): Volatile Anästhetika. Anaesthesist 53, 183 – 198 MASON, K. P., E. O'MAHONY, D. ZURAKOWSKI and M. H. LIBENSON (2009): Effects of dexmedetomidine sedation on the EEG in children. Paediatr Anaesth 19, 1175 – 1183 34 Manuscript I MICHELSEN, L. G., M. SALMENPERA, C. C. HUG, JR., F. SZLAM and D. VANDERMEER (1996): Anesthetic potency of remifentanil in dogs. Anesthesiology 84, 865 – 872 MONTEIRO, E. R., F. J. TEIXEIRA NETO, D. CAMPAGNOL, R. K. ALVAIDES, N. A. GAROFALO and L. M. MATSUBARA (2009): Effects of remifentanil on the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in dogs. 10th World Congress of Veterinary Anaesthesia, Glasgow, UK. Proceedings, 132 NELSON, L. E., J. LU, T. GUO, C. B. SAPER, N. P. FRANKS and M. MAZE (2003): The alpha2-adrenoceptor agonist dexmedetomidine converges on an endogenous sleep-promoting pathway to exert its sedative effects. Anesthesiology 98, 428 – 436 OTTO, K. A. (2007): Effects of averaging data series on the electroencephalographic response to noxious visceral stimulation in isoflurane-anaesthetized dogs. Res Vet Sci 83, 385 – 393 PANOUSIS, P., A. R. HELLER, M. BURGHARDT, J. U. BLEYL and T. KOCH (2007): The effects of electromyographic activity on the accuracy of the Narcotrend monitor compared with the Bispectral Index during combined anaesthesia. Anaesthesia 62, 868 – 874 PASCOE, P. J., M. RAEKALLIO, E. KUUSELA, B. MCKUSICK and M. GRANHOLM (2006): Changes in the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane and some cardiopulmonary measurements during three continuous infusion rates of dexmedetomidine in dogs. Vet Anaesth Analg 33, 97 – 103 QUASHA, A. L., E. I. EGER, 2ND and J. H. TINKER (1980): Determination and applications of MAC. Anesthesiology 53, 315 – 334 RAMPIL, I. J. (1998): A primer for EEG signal processing in anesthesia. Anesthesiology 89, 980 – 1002 RAMPIL, I. J., P. MASON and H. SINGH (1993): Anesthetic potency (MAC) is independent of forebrain structures in the rat. Anesthesiology 78, 707 – 712 35 Manuscript I RAMPIL, I. J., R. B. WEISKOPF, J. G. BROWN, E. I. EGER, 2ND, B. H. JOHNSON, M. A. HOLMES and J. H. DONEGAN (1988): I653 and isoflurane produce similar dose-related changes in the electroencephalogram of pigs. Anesthesiology 69, 298 – 302 SAVOLA, M. K., S. J. WOODLEY, M. MAZE and J. J. KENDIG (1991): Isoflurane and an alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist suppress neurotransmission in neonatal rat spinal cord. Anesthesiology 75, 489 – 498 nociceptive SCHMIDT, G. N., J. MULLER and P. BISCHOFF (2008): Messung der Narkosetiefe. Anaesthesist 57, 9 – 30, 32 – 36 SCHNEIDER, G., E. F. KOCHS, B. HORN, M. KREUZER and M. NINGLER (2004): Narcotrend does not adequately detect the transition between awareness and unconsciousness in surgical patients. Anesthesiology 101, 1105 – 1111 SONNER, J. M. (2002): Issues in the design and interpretation of minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) studies. Anesth Analg 95, 609 – 614 TONNER, P. H. and B. BEIN (2006): Classic electroencephalographic parameters: median frequency, spectral edge frequency etc. Best Pract Res 20, 147 – 159 TÜNSMEYER, J. (2007): Verarbeitetes Elektroenzephalogramm (Narcotrend) als zusätzliches Monitoring der Anästhesietiefe bei Hunden unter Inhalationsanästhesie. Hannover, Tierärztliche Hochschule, Diss. VALVERDE, A., T. E. MOREY, J. HERNANDEZ and W. DAVIES (2003): Validation of several types of noxious stimuli for use in determining the minimum alveolar concentration for inhalation anesthetics in dogs and rabbits. Am J Vet Res 64, 957 – 962 36 Manuscript I 2.8 Tables and Figures 40 * SEF95 (Hz) 30 * * * 20 10 0 0.75 1.0 group I 1.5 0.75 1.0 1.5 0.75 1.0 group ID 1.5 group IR anaesthetic depth (MAC) Figure 1: Box plots of baseline SEF95 in 6 dogs at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC with isoflurane (group I), isoflurane and dexmedetomidine (group ID) and isoflurane and remifentanil (group IR). The box represents the interquartile range containing the median. The whiskers show minimum and maximum values. Significance is indicated as * = p < 0.05; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; SEF95 = 95 % spectral edge frequency. 37 Manuscript I group I group ID group IR Narcotrend® index 100 50 0 0.75 1.0 1.5 anaesthetic depth (MAC) ® Figure 2: Spearman‟s rank correlations and linear regressions of the Narcotrend index with anaesthetic depth levels (n = 6). The correlation coefficients (rS) are -0.89 (p < 0.0001), -0.71 (p = 0.0009) and -0.15 (p = 0.5900) with deepening of anaesthesia for groups I, ID and IR, respectively. The slopes of the best-fit linear regression lines are in group I -82.41 (r2 = 0.75; p < 0.0001), in group 2 2 ID -39.57 (r = 0.52; p = 0.0007) and in group IR -16.23 (r = 0.12; p = 0.2023). MAC = minimum alveolar concentration. 38 Manuscript I group I 0.75 MAC 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC parameter baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation δ [rel %] 59.51 [46.77; 73.63] 22.09* [8.06; 28.89] 53.39 [43.53; 73.16] 52.15 [14.99; 65.27] 47.22 ⁺ [32.08; 61.52] 53.48 [32.54; 68.40] θ [rel %] 17.16 [8.01; 32.37] 17.34 [9.57; 21.78] 24.25 [15.58; 29.96] 27.56 [16.02; 43.38] 32.54 [21.63; 52.30] 29.93 [16.27; 47.24] α [rel %] 9.00 [6.82; 15.80] 13.45 [7.51; 26.91] 11.17 [7.11; 17.34] 12.62 [5.81; 27.66] 9.82 [8.77; 15.78] 9.57 [8.39; 11.44] β [rel %] 8.75 [5.35; 13.67] 47.56* [38.48; 60.18] 6.75 [4.14; 15.16] 12.39 [5.90; 18.89] 7.78 [5.55; 17.09] 7.84 [3.34; 18.08] MF [Hz] 3.00 [2.00; 4.00] 11.90* [8.00; 17.00] 3.40 [2.50; 4.50] 3.75 [2.00; 6.50] 1.71 ⁺ [0.25; 3.00] 1.07 [0.01; 3.50] SEF95 [Hz] 15.80 [13.00; 20.50] 33.25* [29.00; 40.00] 14.05 [12.00; 24.00] 19.25 [13.50; 33.00] 7.20 ^ [0.73; 16.00] 5.07 [0.01; 26.00] θ/δ 0.28 [0.18; 0.69] 0.60 [0.42; 2.21] 0.45 [0.21; 0.67] 0.55 [0.27; 2.89] 0.71 [0.35; 1.63] 0.55 [0.24; 1.28] α/δ 0.18 [0.09; 0.33] 0.62* [0.33; 3.34] 0.23 [0.10; 0.32] 0.24 [0.09; 1.85] 0.23 [0.14; 0.39] 0.20 [0.13; 0.34] β/δ 0.16 [0.08; 0.23] 2.51* [1.46; 5.86] 0.13 [0.06; 0.35] 0.25* [0.12; 0.93] 0.16 [0.10; 0.47] 0.17 [0.06; 0.56] Table 1: Changes in quantitative electroencephalographic parameters with anaesthetic level and nociceptive stimulation in group I. Values are presented as median [minimum; maximum]. Significant differences with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; MF = median frequency; SEF95 = 95 % spectral edge frequency. 39 Manuscript I group ID 0.75 MAC 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC parameter baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation δ [rel %] 51.41° [35.27; 61.32] 14.15* [7.99; 46.39] 69.08 [50.28; 76.61] 18.51* [7.48; 38.97] 68.85 [57.85; 73.70] 50.75* [27.83; 62.95] θ [rel %] 21.14 [16.96; 26.26] 7.27* [5.24; 7.76] 17.73 [13.14; 25.08] 14.22 [8.60; 20.13] 17.77 [16.92; 27.03] 29.46* [18.77; 37.15] α [rel %] 12.89 [9.10; 14.12] 7.84* [5.62; 10.05] 8.11 [5.66; 14.78] 25.80* [16.40; 48.02] 8.34 [6.28; 14.88] 14.93* [12.60; 29.06] β [rel %] 12.85^ ° [9.03; 24.37] 69.27* [41.14; 78.69] 6.37 [4.49; 9.86] 36.05* [24.23; 65.28] 4.14 [2.82; 5.92] 5.64 [4.74; 6.75] MF [Hz] 3.50 [2.50; 5.50] 19.00* [4.75; 20.00] 2.50 [2.00; 3.50] 10.75* [5.50; 15.50] 2.50 [2.50; 3.00] 3.75* [3.00; 5.00] SEF95 [Hz] 19.75^ ° [16.00; 25.50] 34.25* [31.50; 38.00] 14.00 [12.00; 16.50] 24.00* [18.50; 30.50] 12.25 [10.50; 13.50] 13.25 [12.50; 13.50] θ/δ 0.41 [0.28; 0.74] 0.53 [0.15; 0.66] 0.26 [0.17; 0.50] 0.78* [0.49; 1.77] 0.27 [0.23; 0.47] 0.58* [0.30; 1.33] α/δ 0.24 [0.15; 0.40] 0.57 [0.12; 1.01] 0.12 [0.07; 0.29] 1.50* [0.43; 6.42] 0.12 [0.09; 0.24] 0.29* [0.22; 1.04] β/δ 0.25^ ° [0.15; 0.69] 4.91* [0.89; 9.85] 0.10 [0.06; 0.20] 2.26* [0.62; 6.72] 0.07 [0.04; 0.10] 0.10* [0.08; 0.21] Table 2: Changes in quantitative electroencephalographic parameters with anaesthetic level and nociceptive stimulation in group ID. Values are presented as median [minimum; maximum]. Significant differences with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC; ° = compared to baseline value at 1.5 MAC. MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; MF = median frequency; SEF95 = 95 % spectral edge frequency. 40 Manuscript I group IR 0.75 MAC 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC parameter baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation δ [rel %] 52.40 [35.65; 71.89] 32.49 [12.40; 78.28] 61.86 [43.88; 66.75] 55.87 [19.51; 62.02] 58.48 [45.46; 60.93] 50.88 [45.88; 63.34] θ [rel %] 15.69 [13.52; 23.60] 7.33* [5.69; 11.71] 16.07° [13.84; 18.45] 13.54 [10.99; 19.18] 22.69 [15.54; 27.85] 25.91 [15.92; 28.21] α [rel %] 11.78 [7.90; 14.33] 5.52* [4.23; 6.79] 9.47 [8.57; 11.41] 8.36 [7.35; 10.07] 9.93 [8.39; 14.27] 10.05 [9.21; 15.12] β [rel %] 18.52 [4.39; 36.38] 56.15 [4.85; 73.49] 12.84 [6.27; 30.11] 23.17 [9.32; 59.42] 9.19 [7.05; 16.45] 8.95 [6.12; 27.98] MF [Hz] 3.50 [2.00; 7.50] 11.75 [2.00; 23.50] 2.50 [2.50; 5.00] 3.25 [3.00; 16.00] 3.00 [2.50; 4.00] 3.75 [2.50; 4.50] SEF95 [Hz] 25.50 [12.00; 33.50] 36.75 [12.50; 42.00] 18.00 [15.00; 33.00] 31.50* [19.00; 38.50] 17.00 [15.00; 29.50] 16.50 [14.00; 35.50] θ/δ 0.32 [0.21; 0.60] 0.27 [0.14; 0.59] 0.25° [0.21; 0.40] 0.28 [0.22; 0.56] 0.38 [0.26; 0.61] 0.46 [0.32; 0.61] α/δ 0.23 [0.11; 0.36] 0.19 [0.07; 0.55] 0.15 [0.14; 0.20] 0.15 [0.13; 0.52] 0.18 [0.14; 0.31] 0.19 [0.16; 0.33] β/δ 0.36 [0.06; 1.02] 2.71 [0.06; 5.93] 0.21 [0.09; 0.69] 0.42 [0.15; 3.05] 0.15 [0.12; 0.31] 0.18 [0.10; 0.61] Table 3: Changes in quantitative electroencephalographic parameters with anaesthetic level and nociceptive stimulation in group IR. Values are presented as median [minimum; maximum]. Significant differences with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ° = compared to baseline value at 1.5 MAC. MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; MF = median frequency; SEF95 = 95 % spectral edge frequency. 41 Manuscript II 3 Manuscript II Evaluation of the effects of isoflurane, dexmedetomidine and remifentanil on heart rate variability before and after supramaximal stimulation at different anaesthetic depth levels in dogs A. M. Kulka, C. Bergfeld, M. Beyerbach*, S. B. R. Kästner Small Animal Clinic, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bünteweg 9, D–30559 Hannover, Germany; *Institute for Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bünteweg 2, D–30559 Hannover, Germany 42 Manuscript II 3.1 Abstract Objective: Evaluation of the influence of three different anaesthetic protocols and depths levels on parameters of heart rate variability (HRV) before and after supramaximal stimulation in dogs. Animals: Six adult, healthy Beagle dogs (16.3 ± 1.0 kg). Study design: Experimental, crossover design with at least one week washout intervals. Methods: All dogs were anaesthetised according to three protocols with isoflurane alone (I), with isoflurane and a constant rate infusion (CRI) of dexmedetomidine (3 μg kg-1 h-1) (ID) and with isoflurane and a remifentanil CRI (18 μg kg-1 h-1) (IR). Eucapnia (35 – 45 mm Hg) and constant oesophageal temperature (37.6 ± 0.5 °C) were maintained. Individual minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane was determined via supramaximal electrical stimulation (50 V, 50 Hz, 10 ms) for each anaesthetic protocol. Sinus rhythm-derived RR intervals were exported from electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings (Televet® 100). Selected HRV time domain parameters such as the standard deviation of all RR intervals (SDNN) and the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals (RMSSD) and frequency domain parameters like low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and their ratio (LF/HF) were obtained. The autoregression (AR) model of order 16 was used. All variables were analysed offline (Kubios® HRV) of 2 min intervals directly both before and after stimulation at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC for each protocol. Results: Isoflurane MAC values for groups I, ID and IR were 1.7 ± 0.3, 1.0 ± 0.1 and 1.0 ± 0.1 vol% isoflurane, respectively. The baseline of SDNN decreased significantly between 0.75 and 1.5 MAC (all groups) and between 1.0 and 1.5 MAC (group I). In groups I and IR, heart rate increased significantly with stimulation (all depths) and, in group ID, SDNN increased significantly at 0.75 and 1.0 MAC. 43 Manuscript II Conclusions: Without nociceptive stimulation, time and frequency domain parameters could differentiate anaesthetic levels between 0.75 and 1.5 MAC. SDNN might be an additional helpful indicator for the evaluation of nociception. Keywords: dog; heart rate variability; anaesthetic depth; isoflurane; dexmedetomidine; remifentanil. 3.2 Introduction The regulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) can be assessed via HRV analysis (PUMPRLA et al. 2002; HUANG et al. 2008). This analysis of the variability of RR intervals, e.g. recorded via an ECG, provides valuable information about the regulation of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity (AKSELROD et al. 1981; SEELY and MACKLEM 2004). It has become established for evaluation of e.g. sudden death (GALINIER et al. 2000), cardiopathies (MOTTE et al. 2005), pain (RIETMANN et al. 2004) and stress (RUEDIGER et al. 2004) both in human and veterinary medicine. There have been only few studies about the relation of HRV and anaesthesia. In humans, HRV parameters were able to differentiate awake versus general anaesthesia (LUGINBUHL et al. 2007) and distinct decreases in total ANS activity during isoflurane anaesthesia have been found (KATO et al. 1992). In dogs, HRV research has mainly been performed in conscious animals. Comparable peaks of the power spectrum as in humans have been identified (AKSELROD et al. 1981). Since the ANS and thus also HRV are highly affected by general anaesthesia, HRV parameters might be easily achievable parameters for objectively evaluating anaesthetic depth and maybe even nociceptive stimulation. But as HRV can be altered by internal (MINORS and O‟GRADY 1997) and external (ARRAS et al. 2007; LUGINBUHL et al. 2007) influences, the anaesthetic conditions need to be comparable. 44 Manuscript II Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate HRV analysis for use in anaesthesia in dogs under standardised conditions using three different inhalant anaesthetic protocols with differing ANS influences and identical supramaximal stimulation. 3.3 Material and Methods The present study was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the local district government (LAVES) of Lower Saxony, Germany (approval number 33.942502-04-09/1711). 3.3.1 Animals Six adult Beagle dogs (4 females, 2 castrated males) were selected for this study. They had a mean body weight of 16.3 ± 1.0 kg and were 4.0 ± 2.7 years old. The dogs were housed in separate kennels and were fed commercial dry adult maintenance dog fooda. They were considered healthy based on physical examination, haematology and blood chemistry. The dogs were vaccinated and dewormed on a regular basis. Food but not water was withheld for 6 to 8 hours prior to anaesthesia. 3.3.2 Experimental design Each dog underwent three different anaesthetic protocols with at least one week washout intervals between the experiments. After an instrumentation period, 1.0 MAC was individually determined via supramaximal stimulation in all anaesthesias. The same stimulation protocol was also applied at the consecutive anaesthetic levels of 0.75 and 1.5 MAC. 3.3.3 Anaesthesia In all groups, anaesthesia was induced with 5 vol% isofluraneb in oxygen (5 L min-1) via a face mask until endotracheal intubation was possible. Group I received only isoflurane. Group ID was given a loading dose of 3 μg kg-1 dexmedetomidinec delivered via a syringe pumpd over 10 min followed by the isoflurane induction and 45 Manuscript II maintenance which was combined with a CRI of dexmedetomidine (3 μg kg -1 h-1) (PASCOE et al. 2006). In group IR, a remifentanile CRI (18 μg kg-1 h-1) (MONTEIRO et al. 2009) was started without a loading dose and was followed by the isoflurane induction and anaesthesia. Both drugs used for CRI were diluted in 0.9 % sodium chloridef. 3.3.4 Instrumentation An instrumentation and stabilisation period of at least one hour was allowed, during which the dogs were maintained at the expected end-tidal isoflurane (ETISO) concentration of 1.0 MAC. The endotracheal tube was connected to a circle breathing systemg operated in a semi-closed mode with an oxygen flow rate of 1 L min-1. The dogs were mechanically ventilatedh with settings adjusted to maintain eucapnia (35 – 45 mm Hg) and were placed in right lateral recumbency. Body temperature was kept constant (37.6 ± 0.5 °C) by a warm air blanketi. An indwelling intravenous catheterj was placed in a cephalic vein and balanced electrolyte solutionk was infused at 5 mL kg-1 h-1 using a volumetric pumpl. During the experiment the eyes were lubricatedm repeatedly. Invasive arterial blood pressure (MAP = mean arterial pressure) was measured via an arterial cathetern placed in a dorsal pedal artery connected to a precalibrated pressure transducero via noncompliant pressure lines. The level of the sternal manubrium was used as zero reference point. Arterial blood samples for blood gas analysis were collected periodically into heparinised syringes, corrected to oesophageal temperature and analysedp immediately to verify eucapnia and adjust ventilator settings. Gas samples for the analysis of ET ISO and end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) were collected from the tracheal end of the endotracheal tube. Samples were constantly analysed by infrared technique of a multiparameter anaesthesia monitorq, which was calibrated with a reference gas mixturer, containing 5.00 % CO2, 33.0 % N2O, 2 % desflurane and N2 as balance gas, before each experiment. Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) was monitored by pulse oximetry of the same anaesthesia monitor. Four surface electrodes, fixed to both lateral thoracic and abdominal walls, were connected to a telemetric electrocardiographs (ECG). The signal was recorded by a softwaret on a laptop. For 46 Manuscript II nociceptive stimulation, two stimulation electrodesu were placed subcutaneously on the middle third of the medial side of the ulna of the right thoracic limb approximately 4 – 5 cm apart. They were connected a square pulse stimulatorv, which was set at 50 V, 50 Hz and 10 ms. After completion of the experiments all catheters were removed. The dogs were recovered and received a single bolus injection of carprofenw 4 mg kg-1, SC. 3.3.5 MAC determination Individual MAC determinations, always observed by the same investigator (AK), were used for obtaining standardised anaesthetic levels. The supramaximal electrical stimulation protocol consisted of 2 single stimuli and 2 continuous stimuli (applied over 3 s) with pauses of 5 s duration between each stimulus (VALVERDE et al. 2003). A positive reaction was defined as gross purposeful movement of the head, the legs or the tail. Negative reactions were breathing, swallowing or chewing. For each level of ETISO a 15 min equilibration period was allowed (QUASHA et al. 1980; CAMPAGNOL et al. 2007). In order to determine the individual MAC, the bracketing study design (SONNER 2002) was applied. The MAC was calculated as the arithmetic mean of the ETISO concentrations that just permitted and just prevented movement after supramaximal stimulation. In addition to 1.0 MAC, the anaesthetic levels of 0.75 and 1.5 MAC were realised and the same protocol as for MAC determination was used for nociceptive stimulation at these depths. 3.3.6 Blood pressure measurement Baseline MAP was calculated as the mean of values recorded over a period of 5 min directly before stimulation. Post stimulation values were obtained of single measurements directly after and at 30 s, 1 min, 2 min, 2.5 min and 5 min after the end of stimulation. 47 Manuscript II 3.3.7 HRV analysis The recorded ECG was visually checked for arrhythmias. Offline analysis of the ECG signal consisted of an automatic R peak detection which was visually verified or manually corrected. RR intervals were exported and transferred to a HRV analysis programx (TARVAINEN et al. 2008). Artefacts were corrected leaving only sinus rhythm-derived RR intervals for analysis. Trend components were removed with the method “smooth priors” and a λ = 500 (fc = 0.035 Hz). The RR series were interpolated at 4 Hz. The AR model of order 16 without factorisation was chosen for analysis of the power spectra. Frequency domain parameters with pre-defined band thresholds such as LF 0.04 – 0.1 Hz and HF 0.1 – 0.6 Hz (MATSUNAGA et al. 2001) and their ratio (LF/HF) as well as heart rate (HR) and selected time domain parameters (SDNN; RMSSD) were analysed offline (TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996) both directly before and after nociceptive stimulation of 2 min intervals. 3.3.8 Statistical analysis Statistical analysis was performed with SASy. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation, if not indicated otherwise. Signed-rank tests were used to compare HRV parameters before and after nociceptive stimulation and among different MAC levels. For MAP analysis a paired t-test was applied. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. 3.4 Results During all anaesthesias, blood gas analysis parameters and SpO2 remained within clinically accepted ranges. 3.4.1 MAC Isoflurane 1.0 MAC values for group I were 1.7 ± 0.3 vol% isoflurane. For group ID they were 1.0 ± 0.1 and for group IR 1.0 ± 0.1 vol% isoflurane. 48 Manuscript II 3.4.2 Electrocardiography Six ECG recordings (4 in group ID, 2 in group IR) had to be excluded of HRV analysis due to severe 2nd degree atrioventricular (AV)-blocks. Nine recordings (4 in group ID, 5 in group IR) with moderate 2nd degree AV-block appearances could be artefact-corrected by the software and included. 3.4.3 MAP values Group ID had the highest MAP values (all depths). Most significant changes after stimulation were seen in groups I and IR. The 5 min values after the end of stimulation were generally similar to the corresponding baseline values (Figure 1 – Figure 3). 3.4.4 Anaesthetic depth levels Higher baseline HF values were present in data of groups ID and IR (all depths) compared to isoflurane alone which showed the highest LF (normalised units) values combined with the lowest overall power (ms2). Values of HF in group ID were generally higher that those of group IR (Table 2 and Table 3). Significant differences among baseline values between MAC levels were found in several parameters (Table 1 – 3). Time domain parameter SDNN (Figure 4) differentiated anaesthetic levels slightly better than RMSSD. Significant differences among anaesthetic levels were also found in the absolute powers of HF and LF, but they showed a very large variability among animals. 3.4.5 Changes with nociceptive stimulation Significant increases of HR could be seen in all intervals and all depths (groups I and IR), but not in group ID. However, SDNN increased significantly with stimulation in group ID at 0.75 and 1.0 MAC (Figure 5). 49 Manuscript II 3.5 Discussion Drug influences Distinct influences of the different drugs upon ANS and HRV were apparent. Isoflurane alone resulted dose-dependently in the highest LF normalised units (n.u.) values combined with the lowest SDNN values. These findings were probably due to an isoflurane-induced stress response, which has also been found solely through inhalant anaesthesia e.g. for halothane in horses (TAYLOR 1989) and in humans in response to surgery during sevoflurane-remifentanil anaesthesia (LEDOWSKI et al. 2005). This strong sympathetic activation could further be seen in low HF (n.u.) values and a high HR. Significant increases with stimulation of MAP were seen at all anaesthetic levels indicating that the autonomously regulated parameters were not suppressed, which is desirable in clinical anaesthesias and important for this study as HRV depends upon autonomous reactions. The given isoflurane concentration thus remained below the MACBAR of isoflurane of dogs, which is the concentration required to block autonomic reflexes to nociceptive stimulation. Group ID had the highest SDNN values in the lighter anaesthetic levels. This high variability is probably related to dexmedetomidine resulting in e.g. sinus arrhythmia and AV-blocks (KUUSELA et al. 2000). This effect is not considered to be lifethreatening and can be attributed to a baroreceptor mediated reflex due to α2-related reductions of sympathetic tone (BOL et al. 1999) and increases of systemic vascular resistance resulting in a decrease of HR (SINCLAR 2003). The corresponding high values of MAP were also apparent in the present study. Since variability analysis should be performed on artefact-free data (SEELY and MACKLEM 2004), intervals with modest 2nd degree AV-blocks were, if possible, artefact-corrected and included. Nonetheless, the variability of these sinus rhythm-derived beats was high. With deepening of anaesthesia, baseline SDNN decreased and baseline HR increased in group ID. Since the dexmedetomidine dose was not changed, this effect was probably due to the increased sympathetic influence of isoflurane. The present results coincide with a study stating that medetomidine administered in isoflurane- 50 Manuscript II anaesthetised dogs reduced the peri-operative stress response induced by ovariohysterectomy (BENSON et al. 2000). In group IR, a reduced HR was seen in contrast to isoflurane alone. A common sideeffect of remifentanil is bradycardia induced by increases of the vagal tone (JAMES et al. 1992). Opioids usually only exert little depression upon baroreceptors (NAUTA et al. 1983), which could be seen by rather constant baseline MAP values throughout the anaesthetic levels. The higher variability of SDNN in group IR compared to group I was likely due to the MAC sparing effect with less isoflurane being administered. Changes with nociceptive stimulation Parameters of HRV analysis changed differentially with stimulation depending upon the anaesthetic protocols. The observed significant increases of MAP (all groups) and HR (groups I and IR) point out their importance as indicators of pain or nociception (HAGA and DOLVIK 2005; ARRAS et al. 2007). But HR did not increase with stimulation in group ID. Dexmedetomidine might have suppressed this change by the above mentioned blockade of the sympathetic branch of the ANS and by increases of the systemic vascular resistance. Therefore, limitations of HR as an indicator for nociception have to be considered in dependence of the used drug combinations. In group ID, SDNN increased significantly with stimulation at 0.75 and 1.0 MAC. In a clinical setting of stallion castrations, HRV was tested as nociceptive indicator with apparent increases in SDNN, but not in pulse rate (HAGA et al. 2005). SDNN also appeared to be useful as a nociceptive indicator in pigs (HAGA et al. 2008) during isoflurane anaesthesia. Thus, SDNN might be a helpful monitoring parameter in addition to heart rate. Differentiation of anaesthetic depth Time and frequency domain parameters showed significant changes among anaesthetic levels in all groups. A couple of other studies also tried to distinguish anaesthetic depth with the help of HRV parameters, since they have many advantages, such as being easily obtainable and being more resistant to noise than e.g. the electroencephalogram. HUANG et al. (2008) introduced a new time domain 51 Manuscript II parameter called “similarity index” which worked with very short recording periods (64 s) and which could differentiate the states awake versus isoflurane anaesthesia in humans with a prediction probability of 0.91. In their study the same prediction probability was reached by absolute HF values derived from 1024 data points via Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Thus both time and frequency domain parameters might distinguish anaesthetic levels. This coincides with TOWEILL et al. (2003), who assumed that HF correlated with anaesthetic depth in propofol-anaesthetised children. In agreement with their studies, we consider HRV parameters, also in dogs, as a promising technique for the measurement of anaesthetic depth. Technique of HRV analysis For analysis of HRV frequency domain parameters the FFT and the AR are two common techniques (MONTANO et al. 2009). The AR model has, compared to the FFT, a better spectral resolution for short frames of data, requires no windowing procedures and is independent of the number of samples (e.g. RR intervals) (BERNASCONI et al. 1998; MONTANO et al. 2009). This is desirable for short periods (BOARDMAN et al. 2002), as evaluated in this study. Since the spectra of humans and dogs appeared similar (AKSELROD et al. 1981; BOARDMAN et al. 2002; MANZO et al. 2009), the same model order of 16 can be chosen and the dog might be a model for humans. But, in contrast to human medicine, no state of the art definition of HRV frequency bands exists for dogs. Therefore, the ranges defined for a Beagle study were chosen (MATSUNAGA et al. 2001). Limitations A limitation of the present study was the low number of six dogs not being sufficient to really evaluate the overall reliability of the presented parameters. The changes of parameters with stimulation only showed tendencies for clinical use, because the used stimulus was shorter and of a different intensity than surgical stimuli. Since respiration exerts a powerful influence upon HRV (FRAZIER et al. 2001), we minimised this source of irritation by using intermittent positive pressure ventilation, 52 Manuscript II but accepted minor breathing frequency changes among animals due to individual needs in order to maintain eucapnia. Additionally, the variability among individual animals in our study was partly very large, not allowing for thresholds to be defined. Since intervals with modest 2nd degree AV-blocks were, if possible, artefact-corrected and included, the variability of the sinus rhythm-derived beats was high. As stationarity is required for HRV analysis (SEELY and MACKLEM 2004; MONTANO et al. 2009), but not realistic after noxious stimulation, this influence is a limitation of the reliability of the spectral powers (HUANG et al. 1997). Direct comparison to other HRV studies is difficult because of variable frequency band definitions and calculation methods. Conclusions Time and frequency domain parameters could differentiate anaesthetic levels between 0.75 and 1.5 MAC. SDNN might be an additional helpful indicator for evaluation of nociception. Common standards for dogs‟ frequency bands during anaesthesia should be established. a GranCarno® Adult, animonda petfood gmbh, Germany. Forane®/Forene®, Abbott AG, Switzerland. c Dexdomitor®, Orion Corporation, Finland. d Perfusor® fm, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. e Ultiva®, GlaxoSmithKline, Australia. f NaCl 0.9 % B. Braun, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. g Dräger Trajan 808, Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Germany. h Alphavent, Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Germany. i Bair Hugger®, Carbamed, Switzerland. j Vasofix® Braunüle®, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. k Sterofundin®, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. l Infusomat® fmS, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Germany. m Bepanthen® Augen- und Nasensalbe, Bayer Vital GmbH, Germany. n BD Careflow™, Becton Dickinson, USA. o PMSET ART. SafedrawTM (Basic – Flexi), Becton Dickinson, USA. p Rapidlab 248, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics GmbH, Germany. q Datex Ohmeda Compact Monitor, GE Healthcare, USA. r QUICK CALTM Calibration gas, GE Healthcare, USA. s Televet® 100, Rösch & Associates Information Engineering GmbH, Germany. b 53 Manuscript II t Televet® 100 version 4.2.0, Rösch & Associates Information Engineering GmbH, Germany. u Disposable EasyGrip Monopolar Needle Electrode 50 mm x 26 ga, Viasys Healthcare, USA. v Grass S48 Square Pulse Stimulator, Astro-Med, USA. w Rimadyl®, Pfizer GmbH, Germany. x Kubios® HRV version 2.0, Biosignal Analysis and Medical Imaging Group, Department of Physics, University of Kuopio, Finland. y SAS version 9.1, SAS Institute Inc., USA. 3.6 Acknowledgements We thank Rösch & Associates Information Engineering GmbH for lending us the Televet® 100 and its software, the Biosignal Analysis and Medical Imaging Group (Kubios® HRV) for their helpful advice and the Cusanuswerk for supporting the first author with a scholarship. 3.7 References AKSELROD, S., D. GORDON, F. A. UBEL, D. C. SHANNON, A. C. BERGER and R. J. COHEN (1981): Power spectrum analysis of heart rate fluctuation: a quantitative probe of beat-to-beat cardiovascular control. Science (New York, N.Y.) 213, 220 – 222 ARRAS, M., A. RETTICH, P. CINELLI, H. P. KASERMANN and K. BURKI (2007): Assessment of post-laparotomy pain in laboratory mice by telemetric recording of heart rate and heart rate variability. BMC Vet Res 3, 16 BENSON, G. J., T. L. GRUBB, C. NEFF-DAVIS, W. A. OLSON, J. C. THURMON, D. L. LINDNER, W. J. TRANQUILLI and O. VANIO (2000): Perioperative stress response in the dog: effect of pre-emptive administration of medetomidine. Vet Surg 29, 85 – 91 BERNASCONI, P., E. MESSMER, A. BERNASCONI and A. THOLEN (1998): Assessment of the sympatho-vagal interaction in central serous chorioretinopathy measured by power spectral analysis of heart rate variability. Albrecht Von Graefes Arch Klin Exp Ophthalmol 236, 571 – 576 54 Manuscript II BOARDMAN, A., F. S. SCHLINDWEIN, A. P. 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TONNER (2005): Neuroendocrine stress response and heart rate variability: a comparison of total intravenous versus balanced anesthesia. Anesth Analg 101, 1700 – 1705 LUGINBUHL, M., H. YPPARILA-WOLTERS, M. RUFENACHT, S. PETERSEN-FELIX and I. KORHONEN (2007): Heart rate variability does not discriminate between different levels of haemodynamic responsiveness during surgical anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth 98, 728 – 736 MANZO, A., Y. OOTAKI, C. OOTAKI, K. KAMOHARA and K. FUKAMACHI (2009): Comparative study of heart rate variability between healthy human subjects and healthy dogs, rabbits and calves. Lab Anim 43, 41 – 45 56 Manuscript II MATSUNAGA, T., T. HARADA, T. MITSUI, M. INOKUMA, M. HASHIMOTO, M. MIYAUCHI, H. MURANO and Y. SHIBUTANI (2001): Spectral analysis of circadian rhythms in heart rate variability of dogs. Am J Vet Res 62, 37 – 42 MINORS, S. L. and M. R. O'GRADY (1997): Heart rate variability in the dog: is it too variable? Can J Vet Res 61, 134 – 144 MONTANO, N., A. PORTA, C. 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KUUSELA, B. MCKUSICK and M. GRANHOLM (2006): Changes in the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane and some cardiopulmonary measurements during three continuous infusion rates of dexmedetomidine in dogs. Vet Anaesth Analg 33, 97 – 103 PUMPRLA, J., K. HOWORKA, D. GROVES, M. CHESTER and J. NOLAN (2002): Functional assessment of heart rate variability: physiological basis and practical applications. Int J Cardiol 84, 1 – 14 57 Manuscript II QUASHA, A. L., E. I. EGER, 2ND and J. H. TINKER (1980): Determination and applications of MAC. Anesthesiology 53, 315 – 334 RIETMANN, T. R., M. STAUFFACHER, P. BERNASCONI, J. A. AUER and M. A. WEISHAUPT (2004): The association between heart rate, heart rate variability, endocrine and behavioural pain measures in horses suffering from laminitis. J Vet Med 51, 218 – 225 RUEDIGER, H., R. SEIBT, K. SCHEUCH, M. KRAUSE and S. ALAM (2004): Sympathetic and parasympathetic activation in heart rate variability in male hypertensive patients under mental stress. J Hum Hypertens 18, 307 – 315 SEELY, A. J. and P. T. MACKLEM (2004): Complex systems and the technology of variability analysis. Crit Care 8, 367 – 384 SINCLAIR, M. D. (2003): A review of the physiological effects of alpha2-agonists related to the clinical use of medetomidine in small animal practice. Can Vet J 44, 885 – 897 SONNER, J. M. (2002): Issues in the design and interpretation of minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC) studies. Anesth Analg 95, 609 – 614 TARVAINEN, M. P., J.-P. NISKANEN, J. A. LIPPONEN, P. O. RANTA-AHO and P. A. KARJALAINEN (2008): Kubios HRV - A Software for Advanced Heart Rate Variability Analysis. IFMBE Proceedings 22, 1022 – 1025 TASK FORCE OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY AND THE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PACING AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY (1996): Heart rate variability: standards of measurement, physiological interpretation and clinical use. Circulation 93, 1043 – 1065 TAYLOR, P. M. (1989): Equine stress responses to anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth 63, 702 – 709 58 Manuscript II TOWEILL, D. L., W. D. KOVARIK, R. CARR, D. KAPLAN, S. LAI, S. BRATTON and B. GOLDSTEIN (2003): Linear and nonlinear analysis of heart rate variability during propofol anesthesia for short-duration procedures in children. Pediatr Crit Care Med 4, 308 – 314 VALVERDE, A., T. E. MOREY, J. HERNANDEZ and W. DAVIES (2003): Validation of several types of noxious stimuli for use in determining the minimum alveolar concentration for inhalation anesthetics in dogs and rabbits. Am J Vet Res 64, 957 – 962 3.8 Tables and Figures See pages 60 – 67. 59 group I 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation [min ] 109 [85; 128] 127* [106; 155] 113 [77; 129] 122* [106; 163] 119 [101; ⁺128] 125* [111; 151] SDNN [ms] 11.9 [1.1; 21.5] 3.8 [2.2; 5.7] 4.2 [1.3; 22.2] 3.5 [2.9; 16.0] 1.4 ^ [1.0; 1.7] 2.3* [1.5; 3.4] RMSSD [ms] 15.3 [1.5; 28.1] 2.8 [1.9; 4.0] 3.1 [1.8; 26.1] 2.2 [1.8; 22.2] 1.7^ ⁺ [1.4; 2.1] 1.7 [1.4; 3.0] HF Power [ms ] 107.13 [0.57; 329.97] 2.70 [1.59; 6.78] 9.61 [0.67; 497.74] 4.83 [1.10; 161.87] 0.77 ^ [0.48; 1.72] 1.00 [0.61; 3.20] HF Power [n.u.] 84.0 [79.0; 88.8] 46.6* [31.7; 85.0] 83.2 [33.4; 95.2] 57.8 [20.2; 90.8] 79.7 ⁺ [54.2; 93.3] 52.6 [19.3; 67.4] LF Power [ms ] 17.45 [0.15; 54.64] 4.26 [0.28; 13.38] 1.25 [0.16; 123.62] 3.97 [1.19; 16.43] 0.17 ^ [0.08; 0.43] 1.24* [0.45; 5.35] LF Power [n.u.] 16.0 [11.2; 21.0] 53.4* [15.0; 68.3] 16.8 [4.8; 66.6] 42.2 [9.2; 80.0] 20.3 [6.7; 45.8] 47.4 [32.6; 80.7] 0.191 [0.126; 0.265] 1.302* [0.176; 2.153] 0.204 [0.050; 1.944] 0.801 [0.102; 3.990] 0.259 [0.071; 0.844] 0.916 [0.485; 4.180] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 1: Selected HRV parameters of group I presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 2 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Manuscript II 60 HR group ID 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation 63 [51; 69] 67 [46; 103] 71 [51; 82] 75 [51; 90] 82^ ⁺ [62; 107] 84 [63; 103] [min ] SDNN [ms] 137.1 [126.6; 207.4] 175.3* [126.6; 230.1] 62.5 [35.4; 143.3] 85.6* [40.1; 188.2] 11.0 ⁺ [1.8; 74.2] 55.1 [17.9; 230.1] RMSSD [ms] 232.8 [118.7; 393.1] 237.9 [164.0; 306.2] 90.8 [28.4; 238.7] 120.7* [40.9; 315.3] 17.6 ^ ⁺ [1.6; 111.7] 80.4 [23.9; 233.3] HF Power [ms ] 16501.40 [4945.78; 28980.75] 26635.94* [11747.03; 41979.72] 4306.41 [1078.83; 17451.69] 8352.57* [1543.88; 26158.75] 49.28 ^ [2.77; 4475.32] 2673.75 [303.70; 41979.72] HF Power [n.u.] 98.6 [71.7; 99.5] 90.7* [79.7; 96.5] 98.5 [97.2; 99.2] 95.6 [91.1; 99.4] 96.1 ⁺ [81.9; 99.3] 95.7 [79.7; 98.7] LF Power [ms ] 116.49 [62.19; 239.31] 2265.69* [735.46; 10677.97] 146.77 [67.80; 702.76] 489.23* [9.48; 2058.35] 43.93 ^ [36.56; 64.91] 102.36* [10.88; 10677.97] LF Power [n.u.] 1.4 [0.5; 2.9] 9.3* [3.5; 20.3] 1.5 [0.8; 2.8] 4.4 [0.6; 8.9] 4.0 [0.7; 18.1] 4.4 [1.3; 20.3] 0.015 [0.005; 0.030] 0.101* [0.036; 0.254] 0.015 [0.008; 0.029] 0.046 [0.006; 0.098] 0.041 [0.007; 0.222] 0.045 [0.013; 0.254] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 2: Selected HRV parameters of group ID presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 2 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Manuscript II 61 HR group IR 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation 78 [64; 92] 93* [79; 105] 69 [57; 97] 93* [73; 116] 81^ ⁺ [62; 101] 92* [69; 104] [min ] SDNN [ms] 68.7 [47.7; 88.8] 44.3 [37.0; 75.5] 51.7 [29.5; 71.5] 50.8 [18.7; 65.0] 40.1 ⁺ [22.9; 72.6] 43.4 [31.9; 66.9] RMSSD [ms] 94.4 [53.4; 132.1] 63.3 [43.7; 102.9] 73.4 [31.1; 107.7] 66.4 [17.6; 89.2] 49.9 ⁺ [27.4; 82.7] 55.3 [38.1; 82.4] HF Power [ms ] 4210.71 [1786.83; 7594.00] 1554.70 [737.22; 4417.68] 1940.80 [506.21; 4037.16] 2186.48 [195.22; 3159.82] 1487.23 [314.58; 4984.63] 1469.32 [583.96; 3353.18] HF Power [n.u.] 96.5^ [89.2; 99.2] 90.6* [75.3; 96.6] 93.3 [71.7; 96.9] 92.1 [70.6; 96.6] 95.1 ⁺ [86.0; 99.2] 94.0 [91.7; 96.8] LF Power [ms ] 190.71 [50.00; 373.24] 199.24 [57.22; 747.32] 66.87 [8.71; 222.90] 168.45 [77.11; 290.36] 8.37 ^ [0.10; 101.08] 70.12 [42.44; 303.16] LF Power [n.u.] 3.5^ [0.8; 10.8] 9.5* [3.4; 24.7] 6.8 [3.1; 28.3] 8.0 [3.4; 29.4] 4.9 [0.8; 14.0] 6.0 [3.2; 8.3] 0.037^ [0.008; 0.120] 0.108* [0.035; 0.329] 0.073 [0.032; 0.395] 0.087 [0.035; 0.417] 0.053 [0.008; 0.163] 0.064 [0.034; 0.090] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 3: Selected HRV parameters of group IR presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 2 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Manuscript II 62 HR Manuscript II 0.75 MAC MAP (mm Hg) 150 * 100 * * * * * * group I group ID group IR * 50 en d ul at io n 30 s 1 m in 2 m 2. in 5 m in 5 m in tim of s ba se lin e 0 time points of measurement Figure 1: MAP values before and after stimulation derived from different time points of measurement at 0.75 MAC. Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation with * = p < 0.05 compared to corresponding baseline value. MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; MAP = mean arterial pressure. 63 Manuscript II 1.0 MAC MAP (mm Hg) 120 100 * * * * * 80 * 60 * * * * * * * * * * group I group ID group IR en d ul at io n 30 s 1 m in 2 m 2. in 5 m in 5 m in tim of s ba se lin e 40 time points of measurement Figure 2: MAP values before and after stimulation derived from different time points of measurement at 1.0 MAC. Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation with * = p < 0.05 compared to corresponding baseline value. MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; MAP = mean arterial pressure. 64 Manuscript II 1.5 MAC MAP (mm Hg) 150 * * * * * * * * * * 100 * 50 * group I group ID group IR en d ul at io n 30 s 1 m in 2 m 2. in 5 m in 5 m in tim of s ba se lin e 0 time points of measurement Figure 3: MAP values before and after stimulation derived from different time points of measurement at 1.5 MAC. Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation with * = p < 0.05 compared to corresponding baseline value. MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; MAP = mean arterial pressure. 65 Manuscript II 250 SDNN (ms) 200 * * * 0.75 1.0 1.5 0.75 1.0 1.5 * 150 100 50 0 0.75 1.0 1.5 group I group ID group IR anaesthetic depth (MAC) Figure 4: Changes of SDNN among anaesthetic depth levels within the groups I, ID and IR of the 2 min interval. The box plots present median and interquartile range with whiskers indicating minimum and maximum. Significant changes are indicated as * = p < 0.05. SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration. 66 Manuscript II 200 * 250 after 200 * SDNN (ms) HR (min-1) 150 before 100 50 * after 150 100 50 0 0 I 200 ID IR anaesthetic group I (A) * 200 before * ID IR anaesthetic group after before after * SDNN (ms) HR (min-1) 150 100 50 150 100 50 0 0 I 200 ID IR anaesthetic group I (B) ID IR anaesthetic group 300 before * before after 150 after * SDNN (ms) HR (min-1) before 100 200 100 50 0 0 I ID IR anaesthetic group I (C) ID IR anaesthetic group Figure 5: Changes with stimulation of HR and SDNN at 0.75 (A), 1.0 (B) and 1.5 (C) MAC of the 2 min interval with * = p < 0.05. The box plots present median and interquartile range with whiskers indicating minimum and maximum. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration. 67 General discussion 4 General discussion In the aforementioned studies, we evaluated EEG and HRV parameters for use in anaesthesia. The focus was upon drug influences, anaesthetic level differentiation and indication of nociceptive stimulation. 4.1 Material and Methods Study design The results presented in these studies are not as representative as a study with a large number of subjects due to the small number of animals. Nevertheless, data of six dogs were enough to identify distinct influences and trends as well as to develop further ideas for research projects. Because of technical reasons, the order of the anaesthetic protocols was not randomised. A randomised study design using a Latin square would have completely ruled out an interaction between protocols. However, the one week washout period should have been long enough (CREDIE et al. 2010) to have no interference between anaesthetic protocols, since we only used short-acting drugs (CARPENTER et al. 1986; MICHELSEN et al. 1996; HOKE et al. 1997; PASCOE et al. 2006), which have been discussed in detail in the results section of manuscript I. The chosen anaesthetic depths of 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC were determined after pilot tests. The 1.0 MAC level was reached via the experimental MAC determination. A MAC of 1.5 usually defines surgical anaesthesia. At the lighter levels of anaesthesia a MAC of 0.5 would have been more desirable than 0.75 MAC. Then the intervals below and above 1.0 MAC would have been the same. We aimed for this anaesthetic level in all anaesthesias, but as the dogs were awake and moving without stimulation, data were insufficient for statistical analysis. The CRI technique was chosen since it best offers the opportunity of maintaining a constant plasma concentration level. It is thus superior to intermittent re-dosing schemes. In accordance with our study the administration of a bolus of 68 General discussion dexmedetomidine followed by a CRI has proven to be convenient and effective (UILENREEF et al. 2008; VALTOLINA et al. 2009). Additionally, the administration of adjuvant drugs via CRI technique has been shown to result in isoflurane MAC reductions and no accumulative effects (PASCOE et al. 2006; ALLWEILER et al. 2007) (see manuscript I). Intermittent positive pressure ventilation was chosen in order to maintain stable body conditions, since the employed anaesthetics are potent respiratory depressants (EGAN et al. 1993; LOSCAR and CONZEN 2004). The equilibration periods of isoflurane differed in the literature. Some authors used 10 min (ZBINDEN et al. 1994), many 15 min (EGER et al. 1965; CAMPAGNOL et al. 2007), some 20 min (VALVERDE et al. 2003) while EGER (1981) stated that by 30 min the alveolar concentration equalled 70 % of the inspired concentration and RAMPIL et al. (1993) doubted that 30 min would be enough for a true equilibration. An equilibration of 15 min has been proposed for a MAC determination for all inhalant anaesthetics (QUASHA et al. 1980). This time period should be sufficient for the present study, as the pharmacokinetic data of isoflurane (blood/gas partition coefficient of 1.3 in dogs, brain/blood coefficient of around 1.7 in humans) have been found to act comparable to the uptake and elimination characteristics of halothane, which has been proposed to equilibrate well in 15 min (EGER et al. 1965; ZBINDEN et al. 1988). MAC determination Since an objective evaluation of anaesthetic depth is difficult, we chose the best widely accepted method. The determination of MAC is the state of the art concept for comparing the potency of inhalant anaesthetics. One MAC is defined as the alveolar concentration that suppresses movement in response to noxious stimulation in 50 % of the subjects (MERKEL and EGER 1963). It consists of three components: a supramaximal stimulus, the measurement of end-tidal anaesthetic concentration and a defined response (QUASHA et al. 1980). Motor responses, defined as gross purposeful muscular movements, of the limbs, the tail or the head to noxious stimulation, represent positive reactions (EGER et al. 1965). Autonomic changes, such as coughing, swallowing or chewing, were considered to be negative reactions 69 General discussion (ZBINDEN et al. 1994; CAMPAGNOL et al. 2007), since their origin might be primarily subcortical. Thus, they do not reflect the conscious perception of a stimulus. Historically, the tail or claw clamp technique with pressure applied up to 1 min as well as other stimuli, such as an electrical stimulation of 10 – 50 V, 50 Hz and 10 ms, have been used for MAC determination in animals and have been found to be supramaximal stimuli (EGER et al. 1965). MAC determination has become widely accepted, since movement is a basic concern in clinics. All inhalant anaesthetics can thus be compared, MAC is easily determined and it is very reproducible (QUASHA et al. 1980). Further methods for supramaximal stimulation have been developed in various species such as in horses (LEVIONNOIS et al. 2009), dogs (VALVERDE et al. 2003; WILSON et al. 2006; CAMPAGNOL et al. 2007), rabbits (VALVERDE et al. 2003) as well as in humans (ZBINDEN et al. 1994). In humans, skin incision has become established as a supramaximal stimulus (QUASHA et al. 1980). Since this clinical technique is not repeatable in the same person, further methods such as tetanic stimulation have been proposed in humans (ZBINDEN et al. 1994). For animals there are more options for supramaximal stimulation. We chose the electrical stimulation protocol designed by VALVERDE et al. (2003) for the Beagle dog, because their study validated this protocol as being supramaximal. Electrical stimulation is short, totally reversible and maintains intact neurophysiology as well as tissue integrity (LE BARS et al. 2001). Even though it is probably not entirely tissue preserving, the lesions, as seen in the pilot tests, were very small, not painful and healed fast. In these pilot tests, we also evaluated the location of stimulation comparing the medial thoracic limb to a gingival electrode position near the canini. At the same MAC levels, the reactions of the limb were better visible. Needle electrodes can be inserted close to nerve fibers and thus exert a strong electrical stimulation between the electrode tips. The use of less invasive surface electrodes has not yet been established for the MAC determination in dogs and would necessitate thorough measuring of skin resistance in order to assure stable supramaximal stimulation (LEVIONNOIS et al. 2009). 70 General discussion The chosen supramaximal stimulation is not comparable to a surgical stimulation since the latter may last much longer. We chose to apply the same protocol as used for MAC determination as a nociceptive stimulus in all anaesthetic levels, because we wanted to evaluate EEG and HRV parameters under completely standardised conditions, which can only be achieved in an experimental setting. Even the same surgical stimuli might vary from patient to patient in a clinical study. The technical influences upon MAC values have been discussed in manuscript I. Additionally, breed- and stimulus-dependent differences, individual sensitivities to inhalant anaesthetic agents, the observer, the underlying criteria for positive and negative reactions, age, pregnancy, body temperature, hypoxia, hypercapnia, sodium disorders and circadian rhythm (EGER et al. 1965; QUASHA et al. 1980; SONNER 2002; NICKALLS and MAPLESON 2003) influence the results. They were minimised during the experiments by standardising the environment and using only adult, nonpregnant healthy dogs, maintaining temperature and ETCO2 within reference ranges, surveying blood parameters, applying a reproducible stimulation protocol with always the same observer and performing the experiments always in the afternoon in the same room at the same time of the year closely following one another. Since MAC is not altered by the duration of anaesthesia (RAMPIL et al. 1993), we did not regard the duration of anaesthesia as a confounding factor. Electroencephalography Frequency bands were developed for EEG analysis of conscious subjects, therefore, some changes might be difficult to interpret during anaesthesia (TONNER and BEIN 2006). The chosen bands represent the frequency distribution of the brain activity. Additionally, their ratios indicate the proportionality of higher to lower frequencies. The parameters MF and SEF95 also indicate the distribution of the brain activity with the advantage of representing the power spectrum in just one value and the disadvantage of being less specific (TONNER and BEIN 2006). The processed EEG analysis relies heavily upon the raw EEG data. Thus, raw data have to be completely free of artefacts or baseline shifting (TONNER and BEIN 2006). This can barely be achieved during clinical use. However, Narcotrend® includes some mechanisms to 71 General discussion minimise artefacts, such as analysing epochs of 2 s. These are regarded to be short enough to avoid distortion of the EEG values (LEVY 1984). Additionally, the monitor is not disturbed by EMG activity (PANOUSIS et al. 2007). Early in the history of EEG, it has proven helpful to derive the EEG of several electrodes covering different brain areas (VAN LEEUWEN and KAMP 1969). In contrast, Narcotrend® consists of only a one-channel montage measuring solely frontal areas. However, this should be sufficient for this study since ANTOGNINI and CARSTENS (1999) showed that data from various regions of the brain bore similar responses to mechanical stimuli and only showed small and subtle differences. Heart rate variability A promising technique for further research and use in anaesthesia is the analysis of HRV, since it provides detailed information about autonomously regulated processes. But there are still several unknown mechanisms that might change future research. Influencing factors upon HRV such as circadian rhythm (MATSUNAGA et al. 2001), haemorrhage (KAWASE et al. 2002), respiration (AKSELROD et al. 1981), body position (BROWN et al. 1989) or age (PAGANI et al. 1986) have to be determined and, if possible, excluded. Otherwise the results will not be comparable. Some factors, such as stress (VAISANEN et al. 2005; MANZO et al. 2009) or physical fitness (PAGANI et al. 1986), are difficult to quantify and are likely to introduce an inherent uncertainty. We tried to minimise these influences by standardising the experiments as mentioned above. In human medicine, HRV frequency bands have been defined and are used uniformly, while they have sometimes been redefined for other species (Table 1 on following page). 72 General discussion species LF (Hz) HF (Hz) author humans 0.04 - 0.15 0.15 - 0.4 TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996 horses 0.01 - 0.15 0.15 - 0.5 RIETMANN et al. 2004 cattle cows calves no information no information 0.25 - 0.58 0.3 - 0.8 MOHR et al. 2002 MOHR et al. 2002 < 0.15 0.04 - 0.15 0.03 - 0.1 0.04 - 0.1 0.04 - 0.15 0.15 - 0.5 0.15 - 1.0 0.1 - 0.4 0.1 - 0.6 0.15 - 0.4 MINORS and O‟GRADY 1997 MOTTE et al. 2005 TAKEUCHI and HARADA 2002 MATSUNAGA et al. 2001 MANZO et al. 2009 dogs Table 1: Definitions of HRV frequency bands for different species. HRV = heart rate variability; LF = low frequency; HF = high frequency. A couple of studies published data on the frequency bands and peaks of dogs. AKSELROD et al. (1981) determined e.g. the parasympathetically mediated mid frequency and HF peaks to be around 0.12 and 0.4 Hz. As these two peaks should both be within the HF band, the frequency bands defined by MATSUNAGA et al. (2001) were chosen for this study after also carefully checking our dogs‟ spectral peaks and band characteristics. Nevertheless, it has to be kept in mind that there are high interindividual variations within spectra (BROWN et al. 1989) and that the published peaks and frequency band definitions were derived from conscious animals. For analysis of the HRV frequency domain parameters, the FFT and the AR model are two common techniques (MONTANO et al. 2009). These spectral analysis methods generally necessitate stationary conditions (MONTANO et al. 2009) that are not realistic in biological settings and should thus be approximated as closely as possible. The FFT is widely available and commonly used by many researchers (BOARDMAN et al. 2002). Some of the FFT limitations are the poor spectral resolution, leakage and the requirement of priori decisions (MALLIANI et al. 1994). The AR on the other hand has a better spectral resolution of short data frames (TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996; BERNASCONI et al. 1998), which are easier to obtain and are more likely to be stationary (MALLIANI et al. 1994). If analysis of short term sequences is performed, the AR model should therefore be preferred (BOARDMAN et al. 2002), which has been the case in the present study. AR models 73 General discussion require a pre-estimation of an AR model order (TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996; BOARDMAN et al. 2002). A detailed evaluation of the effects of models led to the choice of the order of 16 for the present analyses. Too low model orders result in damped spectra, too high model orders in spurious peaks (BOARDMAN et al. 2002). For humans, an AR model of order of 16 – 22 proved to be the best range, with the least computation time for the order of 16. Dogs‟ HRV spectra contain three spectrum components (AKSELROD et al. 1981) as they also have been identified in humans in an analogous fashion (BOARDMAN et al. 2002). Therefore, the settings from humans should be transferable to dogs. Nonlinear methods, such as spectral entropy or Poincaré analysis, might be better suited for the characterisation of complex systems (KUUSELA et al. 2002), but since they had not been able to predict anaesthetic depth (LUGINBUHL et al. 2007), we excluded them in this study. Epoch length of HRV analysis is supposed to be changed to fit the purpose (TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996). The TASK FORCE ON HRV (1996) stated that analysis of HF required at least 1 min and LF at least 2 min epochs, while the ideal length was defined as 5 min. For use in general anaesthesia the analysed epochs should be as short as possible (HUANG et al. 2008), since changes in ANS regulation occur suddenly and fast. After evaluation of intervals of five different lengths (data of 30 s, 1 min, 2.5 and 5 min is presented in the appendix: Tables 1 – 12), the differences among the various epoch lengths were less than expected. Baseline values varied little among the five interval lengths used for analysis with several significances found in all analysed intervals, which might indicate that the reliability of these intervals for clinical use could be alike. SAUL et al. (1988) stated that the total variance increased with the length of the interval, which could not be detected in the present data. But we compared very short epochs and they performed long-term analysis. However, because of these possible differences, only data derived from the same interval length should be compared (TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996). After nociceptive stimulation hardly any changes could be detected in groups I and IR in the 5 min interval, probably because of the very short nociceptive stimulus that was applied. In group ID, reactions to stimulation were seen later than in the other groups and some significant changes with stimulation were still seen in the 5 min interval, which might 74 General discussion be due to the strong and maybe longer lasting peripheral effects of dexmedetomidine. An explanation for the significant increase of SDNN in the 5 min interval of group ID could be that, in addition to the pre-existing regular variance, the stimulation might have induced further oscillations or stronger arrhythmias. After combining all of our observations with the literature guidelines, we considered the 2 min interval as being the shortest possible interval suitable for use in anaesthesia and thus used the data of this interval for manuscript II. This interval length should be long enough for all time and frequency domain parameters, while it was still able to detect changes with nociceptive stimulation. Summary EEG and HRV In conclusion, both techniques, used in these studies for evaluation of anaesthetic levels, have distinct advantages. But their limitations have to be considered for use in clinical anaesthesia (see below: Table 2). technique EEG advantages Evaluation of brain wave activity Non-invasive Easy handling of Narcotrend® Minimal restraint disadvantages Interpretation of the raw EEG requires a lot of knowledge Analysis is time-consuming Artefacts change results HRV Evaluation of autonomic nervous system Increased information compared to heart rate alone Non-invasive Minimal restraint Cheap Till today no online analysis is possible No standard for dogs' frequency bands has been defined Automatic RR peak detection is not always correct Table 2: Advantages and disadvantages of electroencephalography; HRV = heart rate variability. EEG and HRV techniques. EEG = Statistical analysis We chose a non-parametric statistical methodology for these two studies, after a careful review of existing methodology in literature. Since we only used six dogs, we did not reach the minimum number of subjects to assume normality. 75 General discussion 4.2 Results The results of these studies revealed some interesting drug characteristics and interactions and led to ideas for further research projects. The two studies promoted very different approaches to the evaluation of anaesthesia covering brain activity (EEG study) or autonomic regulations combined with cardiovascular characteristics (HRV study). Neither way could completely replace clinical monitoring, but depending on which area or system is of interest during the use of certain drugs, EEG or HRV monitoring could be added. Manuscript I discussed the brain specific influences of the anaesthetic and adjuvant drugs as well as their pharmacokinetic profiles. It further focused upon the MAC method, evaluating the technique, the values of the three anaesthetic groups and the reductions of the MAC values of isoflurane by dexmedetomidine and remifentanil. It pointed out the limits for EEG monitoring using Narcotrend® in anaesthesia. Manuscript II evaluated the use of HRV in anaesthetised dogs, assessing drug specific influences and discussing their interactions with the ANS. Since this technique has not been established in anaesthesia, the manuscript further emphasises shortly the need for using the AR, as also explained in detail in the first part of this general discussion, as well as the limitations of this method. In addition to the discussions of the specific manuscripts, also some overall details could be observed: Drug characteristics The results of both studies indicated that the analgesic properties of the α2-agonist dexmedetomidine are low compared to the opioid remifentanil and that the evaluation via the commonly used clinical parameters HR and immobility is limited. The MAP showed increases in all groups. However, it was obtained by invasive catheterisation, which is not realistic in standard clinical situations. Thus, during use of α2-agonists, HRV and maybe even EEG monitoring could be useful additions to clinical monitoring, since corresponding EEG vigilance and changes in SDNN were visible in 76 General discussion the present studies. But, in agreement with a comparison of several remifentanil protocols using Narcotrend® in humans (SCHNEIDER et al. 2004), EEG surveillance of anaesthetic depth in opioid-based anaesthesias is not reliable in dogs. Differentiation of anaesthetic depth Even though SEF95, NI and SDNN showed tendencies of differentiating anaesthetic levels, they did not change equally well among depths and protocols. A limitation to the use of SEF95 could be the high dependence on minor activities in the high frequency bands and a poor reflection of the centre of the power spectrum distribution and the activities in the low frequency bands (SCHWILDEN and STOECKEL 1987). NI performed badly with remifentanil application, which also limits its use in clinical situations. SDNN needs to be further examined for different drug combinations in order to define threshold values between anaesthetic depth levels. RMSSD, which expresses deviations of successive RR intervals, has also been established for short term analysis (TASK FORCE ON HRV 1996). However, in this study it seemed to be inferior to SDNN analysis. Despite standardisation of the studies, no solely reliable predictor for anaesthetic depth could be identified in either study. 4.3 Conclusions and outlook Isoflurane alone resulted in the greatest EEG depression, the highest sympathetic baseline tone, the least variability and the best NI correlation. The dexmedetomidine combination showed the strongest EEG arousal reactions in response to nociceptive stimulation in contrast to remifentanil-isoflurane which depressed the nociceptive EEG response the most. SDNN might be an additional indicator for evaluation of nociception, as it detected reactions to supramaximal stimulation better than plain HR in the dexmedetomidine group. An epoch length of 2 min for HRV analysis with the AR method was considered suitable for use in anaesthesia. Without nociceptive stimulation time and frequency domain parameters were able to differentiate anaesthetic levels between 0.75 and 1.5 MAC. Thus, they warrant further research in order to possibly find a parameter that reliably and automatically monitors 77 General discussion anaesthetic depth. Online HRV analysis could supply the anaesthetist with current data on the autonomic status of the patient. But beforehand, standards for dogs‟ frequency bands during anaesthesia need to be established. In conclusion, no sole indicator for anaesthetic depth could be identified by the present studies for dogs out of both techniques. Further research is necessary to standardise HRV parameters for use in anaesthesia. The utility of EEG monitoring depends on the administered anaesthetic drug combinations. 78 Zusammenfassung 5 Zusammenfassung Anne Monika Kulka Effekte verschiedener Anästhesieprotokolle und Narkosetiefen auf quantitative elektroenzephalographische Variablen sowie Parameter der Herzratenvariabilität vor und nach nozizeptiver Stimulation beim Hund Inhalationsanästhetika, α2-Agonisten und Opioide beeinflussen auf verschiedene Weise sowohl die über Elektroenzephalographie gemessene Gehirnaktivität, als auch das autonome Nervensystem. Dessen Regulation kann durch die HRV-Analyse abgeschätzt werden. In den vorliegenden Studien wurden quantitative EEG- und HRV-Parameter in verschiedenen Narkosetiefen, vor und nach definierter Schmerzstimulation und während drei verschiedener Anästhesieprotokolle beim Hund evaluiert. Sechs adulte Beagle (16.3 ± 1.0 kg) wurden in einem kompletten Crossover Design mit drei verschiedenen Protokollen und einer Woche Wash-out anästhesiert: Mit einer Isofluran-Monoanästhesie (I), mit Isofluran -1 kombiniert mit einer -1 Dexmedetomidin-Dauertropfinfusion (3 μg kg h ) (ID) und mit Isofluran und einer Remifentanil-Dauertropfinfusion (18 μg kg-1 h-1) (IR). Der endexspiratorischer CO2Partialdruck (35 – 45 mm Hg) und die Körperinnentemperatur (37.6 ± 0. 5 °C) wurden konstant gehalten. Durch supramaximale elektrische Stimulation (50 Hz, 50 V, 10 ms) der rechten Vordergliedmaße wurde die individuelle minimale alveoläre Konzentration (MAC) in jeder Anästhesie bestimmt. Über einen Katheter in der A. metatarsalis dorsalis wurde der mittlere arterielle Blutdruck (MAD) kontinuierlich aufgezeichnet. Drei EEG-Elektroden (Narcotrend®) wurden subkutan platziert. Intervalle zwischen R-Zacken im Sinusrhythmus eines Elektrokardiogramms (Televet® 100) wurden für die HRV-Analyse (Kubios® HRV) eingesetzt. Quantitative EEG-Variablen wie die Frequenzbänder (δ; θ; α; β), deren Verhältnisse (θ/δ; α/δ; β/δ), die spektrale Eckfrequenz 95% (SEF95), die Medianfrequenz (MF) und der Narcotrend® Index (NI), sowie der MAD, die Herzfrequenz, die zeitabhängigen 79 Zusammenfassung (SDNN = Standardabweichung aller RR-Intervalle; RMSSD = Quadratwurzel des quadratischen Mittelwertes der Summe aller Differenzen zwischen benachbarten RRIntervallen) und die frequenzabhängigen HRV-Parameter (LF = Niedrigfrequenz; HF = Hochfrequenz; LF/HF) wurden direkt vor und nach Stimulation für 20 s Intervalle (EEG Variablen) bzw. 2 min Intervalle (HRV Parameter) bei 0.75, 1.0 und 1.5 MAC offline analysiert. Die statistische Auswertung erfolgte mit Wilcoxon- Rangsummentests, gepaarten t-Tests und einer Spearmans Rangkorrelation. Ein p < 0.05 wurde als signifikant angesehen. Der Isofluran-MAC betrug in Gruppe I 1.7 ± 0.3 und in den Gruppen ID und IR jeweils 1.0 ± 0.1 Vol% Isofluran. In den Gruppen I und ID zeigten SEF95 und SDNN zwischen 0.75 und 1.5 MAC signifikante Reduzierungen. In Gruppe IR sank nur SDNN. Der NI korrelierte mit steigenden MAC-Stufen: rS = -0.89 (I; p < 0.0001), rS = 0.71 (ID; p = 0.0009) und rS = -0.15 (IR; p = 0.5900). Stimulationsinduzierte Erhöhungen zeigten sich in den Parametern β/δ, MF, SEF95 und MAD je nach Tiefe in allen Gruppen. Die Herzfrequenz stieg signifikant in den Gruppen I und IR an, aber nicht in ID. Dort erhöhte sich SDNN nach Stimulation signifikant. Gruppe I zeigte abhängig von der Tiefe die höchsten LF-Grundlinien-Werte. Die Anästhesietiefe konnte durch zeit- und frequenzabhängige HRV-Parameter zwischen 0.75 und 1.5 MAC unterschieden werden. Isofluran alleine führte zur stärksten EEG-Dämpfung, dem höchsten sympathischen Grundlinien-Wert und der niedrigsten Variabilität. Der NI korrelierte am besten mit der Isofluran-Mononarkose und sehr schwach bei Verwendung des Opioids. Die EEG-Antwort auf die nozizeptive Stimulation wurde durch Remifentanil stärker als durch Dexmedetomidin unterdrückt, während die sympathische Aktivierung gemessen durch die HRVParameter ähnlich niedrig war. Die Herzfrequenz war als nozizeptiver Indikator für das Dexmedetomidin-Protokoll nicht geeignet. Bei Verwendung des α2-Agonisten zeigte SDNN die nozizeptive Stimulation am besten an. 80 Summary 6 Summary Anne Monika Kulka Evaluation of anaesthetic depth, inhalant anaesthetic protocols and nociceptive stimulation via electroencephalographic and heart rate variability parameters in dogs Inhalant anaesthetics, α2-agonists and opioids differentially affect the EEG and the autonomic nervous system. The regulation of the autonomic nervous system can be assessed via HRV analysis. The present studies aimed at evaluating the effects of different anaesthetic protocols and depths with and without supramaximal stimulation on EEG and HRV parameters in dogs. Six adult Beagles (16.3 ± 1.0 kg) were anaesthetised in a complete crossover design with at least one week washout intervals according to three protocols: with isoflurane (I), isoflurane and a constant rate infusion (CRI) of dexmedetomidine (3 μg kg-1 h-1) (ID) and isoflurane and a remifentanil CRI (18 μg kg-1 h-1) (IR). Eucapnia (35 – 45 mm Hg) and constant oesophageal temperature (37.6 ± 0.5 °C) were maintained. Individual minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane (MAC) was determined via supramaximal electrical stimulation (50 V, 50 Hz, 10 ms) of the right thoracic limb for each anaesthetic protocol. A catheter was placed in a dorsal pedal artery, connected to a precalibrated transducer and mean arterial pressure (MAP) was recorded. Three EEG electrodes (Narcotrend®) were placed subcutaneously. Sinus rhythm derived RR intervals were exported from ECG recordings (Televet® 100). Quantitative EEG variables such as power bands (δ; θ; α; β), their ratios (θ/δ; α/δ; β/δ), the 95 % spectral edge frequency (SEF95), the median frequency (MF) and the Narcotrend® index (NI), as well as MAP, heart rate (HR) and selected HRV time domain (SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals) and frequency domain parameters (LF = low frequency; HF = high frequency; LF/HF) were analysed offline directly both before and after stimulation of 20 s epochs (EEG variables) or 2 min 81 Summary intervals (HRV parameters; Kubios® HRV) at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Data were compared using Wilcoxon signed rank tests, paired t-tests and Spearman‟s rank correlations. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Isoflurane MAC values for groups I, ID and IR were 1.7 ± 0.3, 1.0 ± 0.1 and 1.0 ± 0.1 vol% isoflurane, respectively. SEF95 and SDNN decreased significantly between 0.75 and 1.5 MAC (groups I and ID) and SDNN only in group IR. The NI correlated with deepening of anaesthesia: rS = -0.89 (I; p < 0.0001), -0.71 (ID; p = 0.0009) and 0.15 (IR; p = 0.5900). Significant increases with stimulation were seen in β/δ, MF, SEF95 and MAP in all groups depending on anaesthetic depth. HR increased significantly with stimulation in groups I and IR, but not in group ID, which showed significant SDNN increases. Group I showed dose-dependently the highest LF baseline values. Without nociceptive stimulation, time and frequency domain parameters were able to differentiate anaesthetic levels between 0.75 and 1.5 MAC. Isoflurane alone resulted in the greatest EEG depression, the highest sympathetic baseline tone and the least variability. 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Photographs Six photographs present an insight into the experiments. 99 group I 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation [min ] 109 [85; 128] 131* [122; 178] 114 [76; 123] 130* [122; 182] 118 [101; 129] 130* [123; 167] SDNN [ms] 11.5 [1.1; 23.1] 4.5 [3.1; 7.4] 4.2 [1.2; 22.6] 5.7 [3.4; 28.6] 1.3^ [1.1; 1.4] 3.1* [2.0; 5.2] RMSSD [ms] 13.5 [1.4; 33.8] 3.2 [1.4; 6.8] 3.3 [1.9; 27.4] 2.4 [2.0; 40.5] 1.8^ [1.4; 2.3] 1.8 [1.4; 3.9] HF Power [ms ] 97.81 [0.55; 453.08] 2.07 [0.74; 5.07] 14.30 [0.39; 304.68] 2.70 [1.26; 598.93] 0.69 [0.38; 0.95] 1.12 [0.19; 5.36] HF Power [n.u.] 83.4 [69.4; 94.0] 21.8 [0.7; 85.8] 92.9 [77.3; 96.7] 15.1 [2.4; 93.6] 89.3 [78.8; 98.7] 19.9* [1.2; 59.6] LF Power [ms ] 17.66 [0.10; 31.62] 12.41 [0.49; 258.62] 1.21 [0.03; 89.28] 16.21 [2.61; 55.77] 0.07 [0.01; 0.11] 4.05* [1.06; 125.25] LF Power [n.u.] 16.6 [6.0; 30.6] 78.2 [14.2; 99.3] 7.2 [3.3; 22.7] 84.9 [6.4; 97.6] 10.7 [1.3; 21.2] 80.1* [40.4; 98.8] 0.208 [0.064; 0.441] 4.993 [0.165; 141.169] 0.077 [0.034; 0.293] 5.859 [0.069; 40.462] 0.124 [0.013; 0.269] 7.179* [0.679; 81.037] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 1: Selected HRV parameters of group I presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 30 s intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 100 HR group ID 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation ⁺ baseline post stimulation 63 [51; 69] 85 [62; 118] 71 [51; 82] 92* [62; 117] 82 ^ ⁺ [62; 106] 99* [67; 118] [min ] SDNN [ms] 136.3 [75.5; 195.7] 101.6 [21.6; 198.6] 69.3 [29.9; 160.6] 35.2 [3.6; 201.4] 12.1 ^ ⁺ [1.7; 73.7] 14.6 [3.9; 51.3] RMSSD [ms] 231.7 [113.3; 366.7] 99.3 [16.4; 279.4] 103.4 [28.0; 287.5] 44.3 [3.5; 261.4] 18.8 ^ ⁺ [1.6; 102.2] 12.7 [2.9; 74.3] HF Power [ms ] 20652.69 [5166.36; 41889.33] 8785.85 [108.87; 34715.97] 7433.14 [756.61; 26307.02] 1134.51 [4.33; 34470.24] 120.36 ^ [2.64; 5421.28] 66.68 [15.04; 1789.22] HF Power [n.u.] 99.0 [98.8; 99.3] 81.8* [26.3; 95.6] 98.0 [95.6; 99.7] 79.4 [15.3; 98.0] 98.3 ⁺ [96.5; 99.2] 75.5* [26.3; 96.3] LF Power [ms ] 199.46 [45.60; 494.96] 943.30 [304.47; 2541.98] 114.78 [19.27; 411.95] 210.92 [8.05; 2138.83] 2.12 ^ [0.10; 109.79] 84.91 [0.56; 304.47] LF Power [n.u.] 1.0 [0.7; 1.2] 18.3* [4.4; 73.7] 2.0 [0.3; 4.4] 20.6 [2.0; 84.7] 1.7 [0.8; 3.5] 24.5* [3.6; 73.7] 0.010 [0.007; 0.012] 0.227* [0.046; 2.797] 0.021 [0.003; 0.046] 1.024 [0.021; 5.553] 0.017 [0.008; 0.036] 0.330* [0.037; 2.797] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 2: Selected HRV parameters of group ID presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 30 s intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Manuscript II Appendix 101 HR group IR 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation 78 [65; 92] 113* [95; 122] 66 [57; 96] 118* [85; 142] 82^ ⁺ [62; 102] 103* [83; 125] [min ] SDNN [ms] 64.3 [53.6; 87.8] 38.2* [30.9; 51.0] 53.0 [32.9; 81.8] 38.0* [14.0; 45.3] 35.8 [18.3; 62.3] 35.6 [14.0; 57.6] RMSSD [ms] 89.4 [58.6; 121.8] 45.8* [24.2; 46.8] 80.4 [32.8; 127.6] 39.2* [7.3; 51.1] 47.1^ [23.0; 89.2] 40.9 [16.8; 81.1] HF Power [ms ] 4161.10 [2200.20; 8947.69] 892.30* [309.97; 3288.52] 2505.79 [324.85; 5237.06] 736.76* [8.56; 1990.30] 1231.46 [158.76; 3899.61] 638.22 [34.88; 1115.23] HF Power [n.u.] 97.4 [92.2; 99.3] 72.4* [29.1; 94.8] 94.1 [40.6; 98.0] 79.6 [8.2; 92.0] 95.6 [72.8; 99.5] 81.0 [39.2; 92.3] LF Power [ms ] 99.65 [32.75; 404.71] 390.10 [49.88; 756.08] 190.14 [38.45; 818.45] 189.07 [38.00; 392.21] 49.23 [18.61; 404.71] 146.87* [49.19; 911.22] LF Power [n.u.] 2.6 [0.7; 7.8] 27.7* [5.2; 70.9] 6.0 [2.0; 59.4] 20.5 [8.0; 91.8] 4.4 [0.5; 27.2] 19.0 [7.7; 60.8] 0.027 [0.007; 0.084] 0.384* [0.054; 2.439] 0.065 [0.020; 1.465] 0.258 [0.087; 11.161] 0.046 [0.005; 0.374] 0.235 [0.083; 1.551] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 3: Selected HRV parameters of group IR presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 30 s intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 102 HR group I 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation [min ] 109 [85; 128] 130* [114; 163] 114 [76; 132] 125* [118; 176] 119 [101; ⁺129] 127* [117; 160] SDNN [ms] 11.5 [1.1; 22.2] 3.9 [2.5; 5.3] 4.5 [1.3; 23.3] 4.2 [2.9; 20.4] 1.3 ^ [1.0; 1.5] 3.0* [1.6; 4.5] RMSSD [ms] 13.7 [1.5; 29.4] 2.9 [1.7; 5.0] 3.0 [1.8; 27.6] 2.1 [1.9; 28.9] 1.7^ ⁺ [1.4; 2.1] 1.7 [1.4; 3.7] HF Power [ms ] 104.68 [0.67; 359.86] 3.25 [1.30; 4.38] 10.73 [0.69; 364.85] 2.39 [1.01; 291.54] 0.79 ^ [0.44; 1.33] 1.04 [0.28; 4.95] HF Power [n.u.] 81.0 [78.8; 88.0] 38.7* [24.7; 84.0] 86.6 [55.3; 94.8] 24.4 [6.3; 91.0] 84.3 [74.3; 97.4] 27.4* [3.0; 64.2] LF Power [ms ] 23.08 [0.10; 79.58] 4.56 [0.39; 11.76] 1.09 [0.10; 72.13] 7.75 [1.27; 28.99] 0.10 [0.03; 0.31] 2.25* [0.78; 45.80] LF Power [n.u.] 19.0 [12.0; 21.3] 61.3* [16.0; 75.3] 13.4 [5.2; 44.7] 75.6 [9.0; 93.8] 15.8 [2.6; 25.7] 72.7* [35.8; 97.0] 0.237 [0.136; 0.271] 1.898* [0.190; 3.057] 0.155 [0.054; 0.807] 3.185 [0.099; 15.230] 0.189 [0.026; 0.345] 3.796* [0.558; 32.024] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 4: Selected HRV parameters of group I presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 1 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 103 HR group ID 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation ⁺ baseline post stimulation 63 [51; 69] 75 [51; 102] 71 [51; 82] 83* [55; 103] 82 ^ ⁺ [62; 106] 91 [65; 104] [min ] SDNN [ms] 131.2 [76.5; 191.3] 109.6 [84.7; 217.1] 65.6 [35.8; 145.5] 68.2 [23.5; 216.1] 10.8 ^ ⁺ [1.9; 27.8] 33.5 [13.5; 98.4] RMSSD [ms] 219.9 [117.3; 355.2] 148.9 [111.3; 328.5] 97.1 [30.5; 249.2] 102.3 [20.9; 347.5] 17.0 ^ ⁺ [1.7; 113.4] 51.4 [17.8; 137.2] HF Power [ms ] 16278.98 [5149.32; 27177.18] 10253.71 [6020.77; 61011.05] 5140.54 [1016.15; 24062.47] 4242.92* [459.67; 35452.57] 63.49 ^ [3.17; 10010.95] 852.43 [265.74; 9556.50] HF Power [n.u.] 98.1 [94.7; 99.4] 93.0* [82.4; 97.9] 98.3 [97.0; 99.3] 95.9 [89.9; 99.1] 96.9 [88.9; 99.5] 97.5 [90.7; 99.0] LF Power [ms ] 255.28 [58.55; 451.30] 1313.61 [204.20; 3803.12] 76.07 [16.21; 375.87] 141.41 [8.73; 1623.82] 5.48^ [0.10; 289.85] 20.78 [10.67; 204.20] LF Power [n.u.] 1.9 [0.6; 5.3] 7.0* [2.1; 17.6] 1.7 [0.7; 3.0] 4.1* [0.9; 10.1] 3.2 [0.5; 11.1] 2.6 [1.0; 9.3] 0.020 [0.006; 0.056] 0.077* [0.021; 0.214] 0.018 [0.007; 0.031] 0.043* [0.009; 0.112] 0.033 [0.005; 0.125] 0.027 [0.010; 0.103] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 5: Selected HRV parameters of group ID presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 1 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 104 HR group IR 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation 78 [64; 91] 102* [85; 111] 68 [57; 97] 104* [77; 127] 82^ ⁺ [62; 103] 96* [74; 111] [min ] SDNN [ms] 68.4 [51.8; 88.3] 42.1* [34.6; 58.5] 47.2 [29.3; 71.6] 48.9 [19.1; 54.3] 40.1 ⁺ [21.6; 71.7] 41.3 [31.6; 62.8] RMSSD [ms] 94.2 [58.2; 127.2] 59.1* [34.4; 73.6] 71.4 [33.8; 107.5] 58.3* [15.8; 73.9] 48.8 ⁺ [26.6; 83.3] 52.3 [40.2; 81.2] HF Power [ms ] 4230.93 [2069.73; 8159.56] 1050.72* [630.22; 2597.73] 1692.10 [485.12; 5522.43] 1838.48 [165.56; 2397.59] 1481.83 [318.52; 4252.79] 1167.81 [507.80; 2283.88] HF Power [n.u.] 96.6 [94.9; 99.4] 89.0* [67.6; 95.4] 93.8 [74.4; 97.0] 91.4 [65.2; 92.7] 97.0 ⁺ [90.6; 99.1] 89.6 [86.1; 94.2] LF Power [ms ] 123.39 [43.95; 429.57] 193.34 [48.39; 378.63] 155.93 [50.02; 923.70] 178.59 [88.52; 230.42] 36.75 ^ [22.68; 41.47] 90.45* [66.66; 369.02] LF Power [n.u.] 3.4 [0.6; 5.1] 11.1* [4.6; 32.4] 6.3 [3.0; 25.6] 8.7 [7.3; 34.8] 3.0 [0.9; 9.4] 10.4 [5.5; 13.9] 0.035 [0.006; 0.053] 0.125* [0.048; 0.479] 0.064 [0.027; 0.344] 0.094 [0.078; 0.535] 0.032 [0.009; 0.104] 0.116 [0.058; 0.162] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 6: Selected HRV parameters of group IR presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 1 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Manuscript II Appendix 105 HR group I 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation [min ] 109 [85; 128] 127* [105; 154] 114 [77; 129] 122* [103; 159] 119^ [101; ⁺128] 124* [109; 149] SDNN [ms] 11.4 [1.2; 21.6] 3.6 [2.1; 6.3] 4.4 [1.3; 22.8] 3.3 [2.7; 14.8] 1.4 ^ [1.1; 1.7] 2.1 [1.5; 3.1] RMSSD [ms] 14.5 [1.5; 28.5] 3.2 [2.0; 3.8] 3.2 [1.8; 28.1] 2.1 [1.7; 20.5] 1.7 ⁺ [1.5; 2.1] 1.6 [1.5; 2.8] HF Power [ms ] 99.57 [0.60; 336.84] 2.56 [1.47; 18.72] 9.99 [0.69; 348.87] 5.18 [0.99; 134.71] 0.82 ^ [0.48; 1.80] 1.00 [0.58; 2.71] HF Power [n.u.] 84.6 [77.9; 90.0] 61.1 [33.1; 85.7] 84.5 [36.7; 95.7] 62.1 [22.6; 90.5] 79.7 ⁺ [54.2; 93.0] 59.5 [24.0; 68.3] LF Power [ms ] 14.92 [0.17; 44.55] 3.06 [0.24; 8.59] 1.46 [0.17; 68.16] 3.20 [1.26; 14.12] 0.18 ^ [0.08; 0.51] 1.04 [0.36; 3.68] LF Power [n.u.] 15.4 [10.0; 22.1] 38.9 [14.3; 66.9] 15.5 [4.3; 63.3] 37.9 [9.5; 77.4] 19.2 [7.0; 41.4] 40.5 [31.7; 76.0] 0.184 [0.111; 0.284] 0.726 [0.167; 2.024] 0.184 [0.045; 1.725] 0.672 [0.105; 3.427] 0.241 [0.076; 0.706] 0.694 [0.465; 3.175] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 7: Selected HRV parameters of group I presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 2.5 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 106 HR group ID 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation ⁺ baseline post stimulation 63 [51; 69] 66 [45; 97] 71 [51; 82] 74 [50; 87] 82 ^ ⁺ [63; 107] 83 [63; 99] [min ] SDNN [ms] 139.1^ [74.6; 205.1] 191.5* [129.6; 248.5] 61.0 [36.2; 138.6] 93.5* [42.2; 189.4] 11.5 ⁺ [1.8; 73.3] 56.3 [16.1; 248.5] RMSSD [ms] 237.2^ [118.7; 386.9] 267.8 [165.4; 330.0] 89.8 [29.0; 232.2] 128.6* [44.3; 319.6] 18.6 ^ ⁺ [1.6; 109.2] 84.4 [21.5; 251.1] HF Power [ms ] 16922.34^ [5121.12; 28588.54] 32677.28* [12317.80; 52395.22] 3880.57 [1440.36; 15990.82] 9841.93* [1769.10; 29378.07] 56.25 ^ [2.88; 4439.29] 2683.73 [209.96; 52395.22] HF Power [n.u.] 98.8 [97.7; 99.6] 91.3* [78.5; 97.5] 98.4 [97.4; 99.4] 95.6 [88.1; 99.4] 95.9 ⁺ [85.4; 99.2] 95.4 [78.5; 98.8] LF Power [ms ] 171.69 [44.21; 341.45] 2478.34* [614.65; 14337.64] 68.65 [8.38; 248.39] 529.14* [10.86; 1724.66] 6.90 ^ [0.10; 104.08] 94.68* [9.70; 14337.94] LF Power [n.u.] 1.2 [0.4; 2.3] 8.7* [2.5; 21.5] 1.6 [0.6; 2.6] 4.3 [0.6; 11.9] 4.1 [0.8; 14.6] 4.6 [1.2; 21.1] 0.013 [0.005; 0.024] 0.099* [0.026; 0.274] 0.016 [0.006; 0.026] 0.047 [0.006; 0.135] 0.043 [0.008; 0.170] 0.049 [0.012; 0.274] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 8: Selected HRV parameters of group ID presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 2.5 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 107 HR group IR 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation 79 [64; 92] 90* [78; 103] 69 [57; 97] 90* [72; 114] 81^ ⁺ [61; 101] 91* [68; 103] [min ] SDNN [ms] 69.8 [46.9; 89.9] 46.7 [34.5; 86.1] 50.9 [31.0; 72.1] 50.7 [17.1; 69.7] 40.0 ⁺ [23.3; 70.7] 42.5 [32.7; 63.6] RMSSD [ms] 98.7 [51.5; 130.4] 64.8 [41.3; 108.2] 71.6 [32.9; 107.6] 66.3 [16.0; 95.9] 50.0 ⁺ [28.8; 81.3] 55.2 [39.5; 84.1] HF Power [ms ] 4272.21 [1582.39; 7515.99] 1740.47 [669.21; 5262.64] 2252.48 [556.09; 4374.51] 2076.97 [159.54; 3648.08] 1491.94 [401.40; 5043.06] 1415.87 [634.67; 3557.34] HF Power [n.u.] 95.9^ [85.6; 99.3] 90.3 [76.7; 97.3] 94.0 [71.5; 97.4] 92.5 [70.0; 96.4] 94.9 ⁺ [88.0; 99.2] 94.7 [91.6; 97.3] LF Power [ms ] 142.22 [54.19; 266.59] 174.73 [51.86; 1094.97] 131.77 [72.63; 662.02] 151.46 [68.22; 333.11] 46.09 ^ [39.17; 57.93] 63.58 [43.21; 326.42] LF Power [n.u.] 4.2^ [0.7; 14.4] 9.8 [2.7; 23.3] 6.1 [2.6; 28.5] 7.5 [3.6; 30.0] 5.1 [0.8; 12.0] 5.3 [2.7; 8.4] 0.043^ [0.007; 0.168] 0.112 [0.028; 0.303] 0.064 [0.027; 0.399] 0.081 [0.037; 0.428] 0.054 [0.009; 0.136] 0.056 [0.028; 0.092] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 9: Selected HRV parameters of group IR presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 2.5 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 108 HR group I 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation [min ] 110 [85; 126] 125* [103; 151] 114 [77; 122] 119* [94; 150] 119 [101; ⁺128] 122* [105; 143] SDNN [ms] 9.4 [1.1; 21.5] 3.3 [1.9; 6.4] 4.6 [1.3; 22.4] 3.3 [2.3; 12.1] 1.4 ^ [1.0; 1.7] 1.7* [1.5; 2.5] RMSSD [ms] 12.1 [1.5; 274.8] 3.2 [1.9; 4.9] 4.5 [1.8; 26.2] 2.6 [1.7; 30.0] 1.7^ ⁺ [1.5; 2.3] 1.7 [1.5; 2.4] HF Power [ms ] 84.33 [0.61; 328.77] 4.97 [1.10; 24.18] 14.08 [0.81; 327.51] 5.31 [0.96; 86.42] 0.75 ^ [0.47; 1.72] 0.98 [0.56; 1.99] HF Power [n.u.] 86.1 [81.6; 91.7] 74.6 [40.1; 87.0] 85.3 [74.8; 96.1] 68.4 [38.3; 89.6] 79.7 ⁺ [65.7; 92.8] 68.2 [35.9; 74.1] LF Power [ms ] 10.08 [0.12; 36.26] 2.29 [0.16; 5.74] 1.91 [0.15; 82.56] 2.19 [1.29; 10.02] 0.18 ^ [0.08; 0.37] 0.68 [0.37; 1.30] LF Power [n.u.] 13.9 [8.3; 18.4] 25.4 [13.0; 59.9] 14.8 [3.9; 25.2] 31.6 [10.4; 61.7] 20.4 [7.2; 34.3] 31.9 [25.9; 64.1] 0.163 [0.091; 0.226] 0.396 [0.150; 1.495] 0.173 [0.040; 0.336] 0.465 [0.116; 1.613] 0.261 [0.077; 0.521] 0.468 [0.350; 1.783] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 10: Selected HRV parameters of group I presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 5 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 109 HR group ID 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation ⁺ baseline post stimulation 64 [52; 69] 63 [44; 87] 71 [51; 82] 72 [50; 81] 82 ^ ⁺ [62; 106] 81 [62; 101] [min ] SDNN [ms] 137.1^ [68.4; 197.9] 203.9* [123.3; 260.5] 61.0 [33.5; 135.0] 96.6* [48.0; 183.9] 11.8 [1.9; 74.9] 49.9 [11.3; 260.5] RMSSD [ms] 229.3^ [108.9; 371.2] 311.2 [156.7; 386.3] 93.1 [26.9; 222.4] 134.0* [47.5; 299.1] 18.5^ ⁺ [1.8; 108.8] 71.9 [15.0; 361.1] HF Power [ms ] 16382.18^ [3958.92; 28764.09] 30212.29* [10494.80; 45052.23] 3739.75 [1025.81; 15537.93] 10120.89* [2281.67; 30160.79] 61.61 ^ [3.15; 4918.99] 2197.83 [86.37; 45052.23] HF Power [n.u.] 98.0 [90.5; 99.5] 88.4* [74.2; 98.8] 98.5 [97.7; 99.4] 96.8 [90.8; 99.3] 95.6 ⁺ [84.4; 99.2] 96.6 [74.2; 98.2] LF Power [ms ] 286.09^ [37.09; 675.89] 3028.59* [346.54; 15682.79] 61.02 [6.48; 237.99] 365.68* [15.31; 934.13] 8.73 ^ [0.10; 88.62] 72.29* [4.95; 15682.79] LF Power [n.u.] 2.0 [0.5; 9.5] 11.6* [1.2; 25.8] 1.5 [0.6; 2.3] 3.3 [0.7; 9.2] 4.5 [0.8; 15.6] 3.5 [1.8; 25.8] 0.022 [0.005; 0.105] 0.137* [0.012; 0.348] 0.015 [0.006; 0.023] 0.034 [0.007; 0.101] 0.047 [0.008; 0.185] 0.036 [0.018; 0.348] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 11: Selected HRV parameters of group ID presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 5 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 110 HR group IR 0.75 MAC parameter -1 1.0 MAC 1.5 MAC baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation baseline post stimulation 78 [63; 92] 84* [78; 99] 68 [57; 97] 84* [70; 108] 81^ ⁺ [61; 102] 88* [66; 102] [min ] SDNN [ms] 77.5 [45.8; 86.4] 63.9 [38.8; 88.5] 52.2 [32.4; 85.1] 53.7 [21.2; 78.2] 38.9 ⁺ [24.2; 69.1] 41.2 [33.7; 58.9] RMSSD [ms] 106.9 [52.0; 131.7] 83.7* [38.9; 125.6] 71.0 [33.1; 108.1] 72.4 [22.5; 101.9] 49.3 ⁺ [29.1; 78.7] 56.0 [39.8; 86.8] HF Power [ms ] 4764.57 [1449.22; 6953.66] 3754.68 [760.37; 6218.15] 2256.10 [674.26; 7231.95] 2344.13 [237.84; 4766.61] 1345.57 [357.35; 4498.10] 1514.25 [744.00; 3058.57] HF Power [n.u.] 96.4^ [84.8; 99.3] 87.8 [69.0; 98.6] 93.6 [78.2; 97.7] 93.8 [72.5; 97.6] 94.6^ ⁺ [86.8; 99.1] 95.1 [86.7; 98.4] LF Power [ms ] 161.15 [52.02; 259.68] 263.63 [50.19; 1347.03] 146.91 [65.98; 994.11] 108.63 [58.54; 398.39] 50.61 ^ [32.05; 54.78] 57.37 [30.76; 467.62] LF Power [n.u.] 3.7^ [0.2; 15.2] 12.3 [1.4; 31.0] 6.4 [2.3; 21.8] 6.3 [2.4; 27.5] 5.4^ [0.9; 13.2] 5.0 [1.6; 13.3] 0.038^ [0.007; 0.179] 0.123 [0.014; 0.450] 0.068 [0.024; 0.279] 0.067 [0.025; 0.380] 0.058^ [0.009; 0.152] 0.052 [0.016; 0.153] 2 2 LF/HF Power [ms2] Table 12: Selected HRV parameters of group IR presented as median [minimum; maximum] of 5 min intervals at 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC. Significances with p < 0.05 are indicated as * = compared to corresponding baseline value; ⁺ = compared to baseline value at 0.75 MAC; ^ = compared to baseline value at 1.0 MAC. HR = heart rate; SDNN = standard deviation of all RR intervals; RMSSD = square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent RR intervals; HF = high frequency; LF = low frequency; MAC = minimum alveolar concentration; n.u. = normalised units. Appendix 111 HR Appendix Photograph 1: A dog placed in right lateral recumbency after the instrumentation period. Photograph 2: A dog placed in right lateral recumbency after the instrumentation period. The warm air blanket is removed in order to show the position of the ECG electrodes of the Televet® 100 (dark arrow) and the arterial catheter connected to the pressure transducer (light arrow). 112 Appendix Photograph 3: The Grass S48 Square Pulse Stimulator, which was used for the supramaximal stimulation. Photograph 4: Placement of the two stimulation electrodes (for the supramaximal stimulation) at the medial side of the ulna of the right thoracic limb. 113 Appendix Photograph 5: Placement of the EEG electrodes. Indicated (light arrows) are the two Narcotrend measuring electrodes (placed midline between the eyes and the ears) and the single reference electrode (on the bridge of the nose). Photograph 6: The telemetric ECG (Televet® 100). 114 ® Acknowledgements 9 Acknowledgements Ich danke… … Frau Prof. Dr. Kästner für die Überlassung dieser spannenden Themen und ganz besonders für die engagierte, nette und ausgezeichnete Betreuung. … dem Cusanuswerk für die finanzielle, vor allem aber für die ideelle Förderung während Studium und Promotion. … Herrn Prof. Dr. Nolte für die Möglichkeit, diese Arbeit in der Klinik für Kleintiere durchführen zu können, und dem Team Neurologie unter Leitung von Frau Prof. Dr. Tipold für die unkomplizierte Raumnutzung. … dem Institut für Tierernährung (Prof. Dr. Kamphues, Dr. Wolf) für das Überlassen der Beagle und allen Tierpflegern für die zuverlässige Zusammenarbeit. … Herrn Prof. Dr. Otto für das Mitdenken bei der EEG-Studie. … Dr. Julia Tünsmeyer und allen MitarbeiterInnen und DoktorandInnen der Klinik für Kleintiere, die mich mit Geräten und Techniken vertraut gemacht haben und mir stets kompetent geholfen haben, sowie Dr. Christina Brauer für ihre EEG-Expertise und das unkomplizierte Zur-Verfügung-Stellen des dazugehörigen Gerätes. … allen Studierenden, die mir im Rahmen einer Anästhesie-Wahlpflichtveranstaltung bei der Durchführung und Protokollierung der einzelnen Versuche geholfen haben. … Carina Bergfeld, die mir bei den Versuchen stets mit Rat und Tat zur Seite stand. … allen Korrekturlesern (hier besonders auch Dr. Andrea Nies) für die hilfreichen Tipps. … allen Freunden für die vielen netten Stunden der Abwechslung in der Promotionszeit und im Speziellen Steffi und Andrea einfach für alles. … ganz besonders Kurt, der alle Höhen und Tiefen der vergangenen Zeit mitgetragen und mich immer wieder auf den Boden geholt hat. Danke auch für die Expertentipps zum Umgang mit Excel, Word und Powerpoint. Der größte Dank gilt meinen Eltern und meiner ganzen Familie, die mich immer begleiten und mit Rat und Tat unterstützen. Ihr seid einfach super!!! 115